Mobile Courant

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, representing Alabama, has introduced the Judicial Relief Clarification Act of 2025 alongside Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa and other colleagues. The proposed legislation aims to restrict federal court orders to only the parties directly involved in the case, effectively ending the issuance of universal injunctions. These injunctions have previously allowed courts to issue nationwide orders.

The bill proposes that those seeking a nationwide relief must file a class action lawsuit. It intends to amend the Administrative Procedure Act and the Declaratory Judgment Act to confine courts' decisions to the direct parties involved. It also introduces provisions making temporary restraining orders immediately appealable.

Senator Tuberville stated, "President Trump has exposed the fact that our courts are full of woke activist judges who think they were elected President. But they were not. More than 77 million Americans voted for President Trump and his agenda – and liberal judges should not be allowed to issue injunctions on policies they do not agree with. We need our justice system to focus on upholding the Constitution, not pushing an agenda. If judges have a problem with that, they can run for political office."

Echoing this sentiment, Senator Grassley remarked, "For a number of years, but particularly in the last few months, we’ve increasingly seen sweeping orders from individual district judges that dictate national policy. Our Founders saw an important role for the judiciary, but the Constitution limits judges to exercising power over ‘cases’ or ‘controversies.’ Judges are not policymakers, and allowing them to assume this role is very dangerous. The Judicial Relief Clarification Act clarifies the scope of judicial power and resolves illegitimate judicial infringement upon the executive branch. It’s a commonsense bill that’s needed to provide long-term constitutional clarity and curb district courts’ growing tendency to overstep by issuing sweeping, nationwide orders."

The legislation is backed by several cosponsors including Senators John Barrasso, Marsha Blackburn, Katie Britt, Ted Budd, Bill Cassidy, John Cornyn, Kevin Cramer, Ted Cruz, Steve Daines, Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Jim Justice, John Kennedy, Mike Lee, Cynthia Lummis, Roger Marshall, Ashley Moody, Bernie Moreno, Eric Schmitt, and Thom Tillis.

The Judicial Relief Clarification Act seeks to address the issue of federal judges issuing universal injunctions, which, according to the proponents, defy historical precedent as no such orders were recorded before 1963. This practice has become more common, with reference to more universal injunctions issued against President Trump's policies in the first two months of his second term compared to those against the Biden administration over four years.

Criticism of universal injunctions comes from various ideological perspectives, with Justices Gorsuch and Thomas previously stating, “By their nature, universal injunctions tend to force judges into making rushed, high-stakes, low-information decisions.” Justice Kagan added in 2022, “It just can’t be right that one district judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks and leave it stopped for the years that it takes to go through the normal process.”

Despite the Supreme Court's authority to halt this practice, it has not done so. Nevertheless, Article III of the Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate the jurisdiction of federal courts, which this bill seeks to leverage.

Senator Tuberville's initiative represents his ongoing involvement in legislative matters as a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.