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Jim Jordan details House GOP strategy to back up Trump in court: ‘Everything’s on the table’
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Republican lawmakers are preparing a slate of legislation to rein in the judiciary as the Trump administration battles multiple federal courts over its policies.
‘Everything’s on the table,’ Jordan told Fox News Digital in an interview. ‘We’re looking to be as helpful as possible.’
As one example, Jordan signaled he expected an eventual vote on a bill introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who chairs the courts subcommittee of Jordan’s panel, which would limit federal judges’ ability to order nationwide injunctions in response to more localized cases.
‘We’ve looked at different ways to draft legislation. But we think that makes sense,’ Jordan said. ‘That’s something that we can look at doing and maybe even, you know, try to move fairly quick on that bill.’
Another idea Jordan mentioned was taking those nationwide injunctions to stop presidential policies and providing an avenue for an expedited appeal to potentially get the order limited quickly.
The Ohio Republican also mentioned reintroducing legislation from the previous Congress, when Democrats controlled the Senate and White House.
One such bill by Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., would allow presidents or vice presidents involved in lawsuits or other prosecutions to move those cases to federal court, if they were in a lower circuit.
But Jordan said the measure would be widened beyond just those two roles.
‘I think the bill we’re looking at this year would say not just the president, vice president, but ‘federal official,’’ he explained.
Legislation that passed the House and Senate under former President Joe Biden to expand the number of federal judgeships across the country could also come back up for a vote, Jordan said.
The bill, which would have added 66 new judges, passed the Senate in August of last year but was not taken up by the House until December, after President Donald Trump won the election.
Unlike the Senate vote, however, the majority of Democrats in the House did not support the bill. Biden vetoed it in January as one of his last major acts as president.
‘Everyone thinks we need more judges. I think we do. We had legislation that every Democrat in the Senate supported that would allow the presidents over the next 10 years, you know, whoever happens to be president, to appoint those,’ Jordan said.
‘We brought it up, but the Democrats voted against it after President Trump won. So we’ll try to pass that again and see if we can get the votes.’
Jordan said his staff has been in consistent communication with Speaker Mike Johnson’s office about moving legislation to the House floor.
It comes after dozens of activists, left-wing groups and other entities filed myriad lawsuits against Trump’s executive orders during his first few weeks as president.
Trump policies from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to birthright citizenship limitations have been challenged.
Trump’s plans to freeze federal aid have also been ordered blocked by federal courts.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Johnson’s office for comment.