(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Senate GOP Strips Contempt Provision From Tax Bill — But Still Lets Trump Be King [1]

['Senior Politics Reporter']

Date: 2025-06-13 12:47:51+00:00

LOADING ERROR LOADING

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans have removed a disturbing provision from the House GOP’s massive tax-and-spending bill that would have allowed President Donald Trump to circumvent the courts and essentially serve as a king.

But they have swapped in new language that would still let Trump ignore the courts amid his lawlessness: Their provision would make it nearly impossible for people to sue the federal government by forcing them to cough up millions, if not billions, of dollars to do so.

Advertisement

HuffPost is committed to fearlessly covering the Trump administration. Click here to support our mission and become a member today.

Late Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released the panel’s proposed text for the GOP’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill. The House passed its version of the bill last month, so now the Senate is making its changes. Each committee is tasked with putting together language for its relevant section in the legislation.

The text that Grassley released for the bill’s judicial section doesn’t include this jarring, one-sentence provision that House Republicans buried in their 1,116-page bill:

Advertisement

U.S. House of Representatives

Translated, this provision would restrict the ability of any court, including the Supreme Court, to enforce compliance with its orders by holding people in contempt. Contempt citations are an essential tool for the courts; they allow judges to threaten fines, sanctions or even jail if people disobey their orders.

The provision in the House GOP’s bill also would apply retroactively to all temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, leaving courts with no real way of enforcing orders they’ve already handed down.

Advertisement

Among those orders? The 184 court rulings that have temporarily halted unlawful actions taken by the Trump administration. And Trump has already been ignoring orders from judges to stop deporting migrants without giving them due process.

Every House Republican voted for this provision when they voted to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Even if they didn’t know it.

While the contempt language is gone in the Senate bill, there is new and arguably more problematic language in its place. This bill would require that anyone seeking a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction against the federal government first post a bond that covers the costs and damages that would be sustained to the federal government, in the event it loses the case. We’re talking millions if not billions of dollars being required upfront, effectively shutting off people’s ability to sue the Trump administration.

Advertisement

“The court must set the bond at an amount that’s really large,” said Coby Dolan, legislative director of the Access to Justice program at Earthjustice Action. the nonprofit advocacy partner to Earthjustice, a public interest environmental law group. “In some of these federal actions, the federal government could say, ‘It’s going to cost $1 billion.’ What public interest group is going to be able to afford a $1 billion bond?”

This language is narrower than the provision in the House bill ― it only applies to the federal government and temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions ― and it is not retroactive. But it would make it exponentially harder, if not impossible, for people to bring lawsuits against the government.

Here’s the language now in the Senate bill:

U.S. Senate

Advertisement

“If this measure stays in the bill, only a billionaire would be able to get prompt relief from the courts when this administration breaks the law,” Emily Martin, chief program officer at the National Women’s Law Center, said in a statement.

“This is not justice, it’s enabling an authoritarian power grab that would take away one of the last remaining checks on the Trump administration,” said Martin. “This measure seeks to rob all of us of the ability to demand that the administration follow the law and abide by the Constitution.”

Senate Democrats had been pressuring Republicans to take the contempt provision from the House out of the bill, arguing it not only violates the Constitution but also Senate rules. Republicans are relying on a fast-track legislative process known as budget reconciliation to advance the bill, which means everything in it has to be related to budget matters. Restricting judges’ abilities to hand down contempt orders has nothing to do with budgets.

Advertisement

Senate Republicans almost certainly knew this when they stripped it from the bill. So they came up with alternative language that they think is in line with Senate rules and would have the same effect of letting Trump skirt accountability in the courts.

“If we can’t go to court to hold [the Trump administration] accountable because our client can’t afford an insanely large bond, then there’s no case in the first place,” said Dolan. “This language is going after the public’s right to vindicate their rights in court and it’s imposing on the courts themselves, all while staying with the theme of making Trump king.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told HuffPost last week that he knew some GOP senators were “very uncomfortable” with the contempt provision in the House GOP’s bill. It’s not clear if any of those same Republicans are uncomfortable with the new language, which has a similar effect.

Advertisement

“This is a naked attempt to shield members of the Trump administration from court orders,” Schumer said of the contempt provision.

A Schumer spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new language in the bill and if or how Democrats plan to fight it.

20 Years Of Free Journalism Your Support Fuels Our Mission Your Support Fuels Our Mission For two decades, HuffPost has been fearless, unflinching, and relentless in pursuit of the truth. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can't do this without you. We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves. Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again. We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves. Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again. Support HuffPost Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.

20 Years Of Free Journalism For two decades, HuffPost has been fearless, unflinching, and relentless in pursuit of the truth. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can't do this without you. Support HuffPost Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.

This story has been updated to clarify that the Senate bill still has dangerous language in it aimed at preventing people from being able to sue the federal government, and at present, the Trump administration.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/senate-republicans-big-beautiful-bill-contempt-courts-trump_n_684b9b3be4b0c4fd78ff7f2e

Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/