Trump's legacy will limit judicial activism and obstruction for decades to come

Although those high-profile confirmations were undeniable victories for the conservative movement, the president’s lower court appointments could ultimately turn out to be even more important. In less than three years, Trump has appointed 161 judges to the federal courts, including 45 judges to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. President Barack Obama, conversely, got only 55 appellate court judges confirmed throughout his eight years in office.

A full quarter of the nation’s circuit court judges are now constitutionalists appointed by Trump — a crucial bulwark that will protect our Constitution against the judicial overreach favored by activist liberal judges.

“When judges write policy instead of applying the law, they impose sweeping changes on millions of Americans without the benefit of legislative debate, public rulemaking, or the consent of the governed,” Trump noted during a recent White House event.

The president’s experience with the courts offers a case study in why retaking the federal judiciary is so important to conservative causes. During the first three years of his presidency, judges have arguably been as great an impediment to the “America First” agenda as the do-nothing Democrats in Congress.

By February 2019, the Trump administration had already faced more injunctions from lower courts than any administration in American history. Activist judges, more concerned with advancing their political agendas than in faithfully applying the law, eagerly joined the Left’s “resistance” against Trump.

The Trump administration’s effort to repeal the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive memorandum offers a particularly illustrative example of why rebuilding the courts is such a monumental victory for Republicans across the country. Although liberal activist judges had no qualms about accepting Obama’s unilateral decision to stop enforcing federal immigration law, they took grave exception to the notion that his successor could undo that dictate.

When Trump rescinded DACA, progressive interest groups filed lawsuits in friendly federal courts, which obligingly issued injunctions preventing the repeal from taking effect. Those injunctions came even though Obama himself once called programs similar to DACA unconstitutional and that the courts had ruled its sister program, DAPA, unconstitutional several years ago.

The Supreme Court has yet to issue a final ruling, but make no mistake, the injunctions have already prevented Trump from exercising his legitimate authority.

Liberal judges have issued similarly absurd injunctions against dozens of other Trump administration initiatives. Even when the injunctions are ultimately overturned, these rogue judges can significantly slow the administration’s progress, limiting what the president can accomplish on any given issue.

The historic number of judicial confirmations achieved over the past three years, however, will bring this ludicrous practice to heel. The president has already broken the Left’s iron grip over the 9th Circuit Court — he is in the process of filling as many as seven vacancies on the court, a notorious abuser of federal injunctions that has been a constant thorn in the side of his administration.

America will reap the benefits of these confirmations for years to come. Long after Trump has left office, the judges he will have appointed will continue to serve as a safeguard against judicial activism and liberal overreach, issuing rulings based on the letter of the law rather than partisan political considerations.

Jenna Ellis Rives (@JennaEllisRives) is a member of the Trump 2020 Advisory Board. She is a constitutional law attorney, radio host, and the author of The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution.