President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda is hitting repeated roadblocks in Washington, D.C., federal court, where judges have halted major policies — fueling a growing clash over whether the judiciary is checking executive power or overstepping into it.

The rulings have halted key parts of Trump’s agenda on immigration, policing and federal authority, intensifying debate over whether courts are acting as a constitutional check or obstructing elected leadership.

Here are some of the biggest court clashes Trump is facing in D.C. federal court.

Alien Enemies Act: A centuries-old statute becomes the focus of a modern fight

One of the biggest fights is also one of the earliest lawsuits filed against the Trump administration in D.C. federal court  — centered on the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law, to deport certain migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.

Civil rights groups and immigration advocates have argued the Trump administration is stretching the law beyond its intended use case, including the three previous times it was used in U.S. history — most recently, during World War II. The Trump administration has defended the move as a lawful exercise of executive authority over national security and immigration enforcement.

The case quickly landed in D.C. federal court and has since moved up on appeal, with higher courts now weighing the scope of the president’s authority under the centuries-old statute. The outcome could have sweeping implications for how rarely used emergency powers are applied in modern immigration policy.

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Who controls DC streets: Washington or the White House?

The scope of federal power over states and localities has also been tested. Courts have imposed limits on Trump’s efforts to assert control over National Guard units, raising federalism concerns about the balance between state and federal authority.

The standoff began in August 2025. Trump moved to expand federal control over policing in Washington, D.C., including deploying National Guard troops to respond to crime. 

A related lawsuit, District of Columbia v. Trump, challenges what city officials describe as an unprecedented federal intrusion into local policing. The case remains a key test of presidential authority over the nation’s capital.

Protected status for Haitian migrants: Temporary or ‘de facto amnesty’?

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a pair of appeals from the Trump administration seeking to immediately halt Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for Haitian migrants. Haitians were first granted TPS status in 2010 after a devastating earthquake. Previously, a lower court judge in D.C., U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, had blocked the Trump administration from lifting the TPS designation.

U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the high court to take up the broader issue of whether the Trump administration can revoke TPS protections for other migrants living in the U.S. — citing the Justice Department’s appeal of a similar case centered on TPS protections for Syrian migrants that was kicked to the high court earlier this year.

«Unless the court resolves the merits of these challenges — issues that have now been ventilated in courts nationwide — this unsustainable cycle will repeat again and again, spawning more competing rulings and competing views of what to make of this court’s interim orders,» Sauer said last week. «This court should break that cycle.»

The appeal comes as the Trump administration has sought to wind down most TPS designations, arguing the programs have been extended for too long under Democratic presidents.

«Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago,» said then-spokesperson for DHS Tricia McLaughlin. «It was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades.»

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

USAID: Judges pump the brakes on agency cuts

Early in the term, the administration’s effort to rapidly scale back the U.S. Agency for International Development was halted by a federal judge, who blocked mass leave orders and the dismantling of the agency’s workforce.

The Supreme Court eventually intervened in the case. Last March, the high court denied the Trump administration’s request to block a lower court’s order for the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid money for previously completed projects, and leaving to the lower court judge the details of how those contracts should be paid out. That suit was eventually appealed to a higher court, where litigation remains pending.

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Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and attorney Abbe Lowell leave the U.S. Supreme Court today in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

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The independence of the Federal Reserve is also an issue before the courts.

Lawyers for the Trump administration asked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg earlier this month to reconsider an earlier order that quashed grand jury subpoenas of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, appearing to make good on a vow from U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro to appeal the order to a higher court.

In the Justice Department’s motion for reconsideration that was submitted Monday, prosecutors argued that the court «applied an incorrect legal standard, erred with respect to certain facts, and overlooked other relevant facts.» 

They argued that a subpoena should be allowed when there is even a «reasonable possibility» that the category of materials the government seeks will produce information «relevant to the general subject of the grand jury’s investigation,» and even where a subpoena recipient «proposes a plausible theory of an ulterior motive.»

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a separate case, Trump v. Cook, earlier this year. That case centered on whether Trump has the power to fire Lisa Cook from the Fed’s board of governors — without notice and largely without the ability for courts to challenge the «for cause» provision underpinning her removal.

Cook remains in her position for now, following an order from U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb. 

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Meanwhile, White House officials have railed against the «activist» judges who they have accused of overstepping their agenda or acting with a political agenda to halt or pause Trump’s policies from taking force.  

Después de cuatro días de operar al 90% de su capacidad, la planta potabilizadora Federico Guardia Conte de Chilibre volvió a funcionar al 100%, tras completarse los trabajos de reparación e instalación del motor de una de las bombas de la estación de bombeo de agua tratada.

La recuperación de esta infraestructura, la más importante del país para el abastecimiento de agua potable, permite empezar a normalizar el suministro en la ciudad de Panamá y San Miguelito, dos de las zonas más afectadas por la reducción temporal de operaciones.

El restablecimiento llega antes de lo previsto. Cuando se detectó la falla mecánica, las autoridades habían estimado que las labores podrían tomar alrededor de seis días, pero el trabajo técnico concluyó en un plazo menor.

Durante ese período, la planta se mantuvo en funcionamiento parcial, lo que obligó a operar con menor margen en la red de distribución y a advertir sobre posibles interrupciones o variaciones del servicio, sobre todo en los sectores altos y alejados.

La pieza intervenida era clave para sostener la presión y la salida de agua tratada hacia la red. Por eso, aunque la potabilizadora no dejó de producir, la reducción al 90% tuvo efectos inmediatos en el sistema.

En este tipo de eventos, las primeras zonas en resentir el impacto suelen ser las comunidades con menor presión natural o ubicadas en puntos más distantes, donde cualquier merma en la capacidad de bombeo se traduce con rapidez en baja presión, intermitencia o ausencia temporal del suministro.

El comunicado oficial informa que la recuperación al 100% fue posible luego de culminar con éxito la reparación y la instalación del motor, en una jornada extendida que concluyó en horas de la madrugada.

A partir de allí, el restablecimiento del servicio empezó de forma progresiva, especialmente en los puntos altos y alejados de Panamá y San Miguelito que pudieron verse afectados mientras se ejecutaban las labores.

Las autoridades también insistieron en el llamado a usar el agua con moderación para acelerar la recuperación plena del sistema.

La contingencia, además, volvió a dejar en evidencia que la operación de Chilibre sigue dependiendo de equipos críticos cuya falla repercute de inmediato sobre una parte importante del país.

Cuando se anunció el daño, también se explicó que estaba en marcha el proceso para reemplazar cuatro motores en la estación de bombeo, equipos que ya habían sido adquiridos y estaban pendientes de entrega por parte del proveedor. Es decir, la reparación que permitió salir de la emergencia no elimina un problema más amplio de renovación de componentes.

Ese dato es importante porque la avería actual no fue presentada como un episodio aislado. Ya antes la planta había operado con capacidad reducida por fallas similares y, en noviembre del año pasado, una interrupción en el sistema eléctrico la dejó fuera de servicio por varias horas.

En una infraestructura que abastece a gran parte del área metropolitana, la repetición de incidentes mecánicos o eléctricos amplifica la preocupación sobre la estabilidad operativa de un sistema del que dependen miles de hogares.

La planta de Chilibre capta agua del Lago Alajuela y cumple una función estratégica dentro del esquema de distribución nacional. No se trata de una instalación secundaria ni de apoyo: es la principal fuente de agua potable para una enorme franja urbana.

Por eso, cada reducción en su capacidad se convierte en un asunto sensible, no solo por la cantidad de personas afectadas, sino porque cualquier demora en la reparación obliga a redistribuir presión y a administrar con más cuidado un recurso básico en una red ya exigida.

En esta ocasión, el mensaje oficial subraya que la detección rápida de la falla y la coordinación entre especialistas permitieron completar el trabajo antes del tiempo inicialmente proyectado. Ese resultado evita que la contingencia se prolongue durante casi una semana completa, como se había anticipado al inicio.

La normalización total del servicio, sin embargo, no siempre ocurre al mismo ritmo en todos los puntos de la red. Aunque la planta ya funciona a plena capacidad, el agua debe recuperar presión y niveles en el sistema para llegar con estabilidad a las áreas más comprometidas.

En los eventos anteriores, las autoridades ya habían advertido que las zonas más alejadas y elevadas suelen tardar más en volver a la normalidad, por lo que el regreso al 100% de operación no implica que todos los usuarios sientan el efecto de inmediato.

«No Kings,» a decentralized protest movement that crystallized in opposition to President Donald Trump’s second term, will hold thousands of events on Saturday morning, according to Sarah Parker, an organizer for one of the events in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The protests mark the most recent development for the amorphous group, which has prompted similar events in the past.

«Tomorrow we’re going to have over 3,500 events across the country,» Parker said. «I think it’s important to be out in the streets at this moment in time to save our country. The events will be overwhelmingly peaceful, and there are going to be millions of Americans from different affiliations, different ages and different ethnic backgrounds coming together to be in community.»

Parker did not describe how «No Kings» works with local figures to organize events but said the protests aim to build on local displeasure with the administration.

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«I think this is organic. This is a people-powered movement. We have different local hosts that are volunteers who have stepped up to host an event in their areas, even in rural areas. We have hundreds of events in rural and deep-red states,» Parker said.

Unlike other organized organizations, «No Kings» is not a non-profit, a business, or a formal organization, making its structure a mystery. Because of its lack of centralization, it has little to no financial reporting requirements and no easily identifiable leadership.

«No Kings» first burst onto the scene through «No Kings Day» in June 2025, an event that, in the words of their website, inspired «a nationwide uprising 14 times larger than both of Trump’s inaugurations combined.»

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Almost a year later, the protests scheduled for Saturday hope to continue their opposition, touting opposition to Trump’s recent actions in Iran and debates over immigration enforcement.

«Masked secret police terrorizing our communities. An illegal, catastrophic war putting us in danger and driving up our costs. Attacks on our freedom of speech, our civil rights, our freedom to vote. Costs pushing families to the brink,» their website’s description reads.

President Donald Trump on July 28, 2025, in Turnberry, Scotland.   (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Despite Parker’s framing of a decentralized movement, No Kings provides a highly-structured document for organizers titled «March 28 Toolkit,» instructing viewers on how to recruit their own speakers, delegate roles, register their event and use No Kings branded media materials. It also lays out best practices for logistics as well as how to avoid permitting and insurance requirements for event-holders.

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Notably, the document also includes a «host hotline,» providing a number with a Maryland area code.

A map of events scheduled for Saturday shows organizational activity in the vast majority of urban centers across the country. Parker said that no one center will play a lead role, but that Minneapolis will act as a «flagship.» 

Parker isn’t affiliated with No Kings directly. Instead, she described herself as a part of 50501 — another decentralized organization that partners with No Kings. She did not describe the nature of the partnership or how they interacted amid their similarly decentralized structures.

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Protesters gather in Washington, D.C., for the No Kings Day protest on October 18th, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead)

Asked what 50501 meant, Parker said the name originally stood for «50 states, 50 capitols, one day.»

It, too, is not registered as a non-profit or business.

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When asked who should be listening to No Kings’ messaging, Parker said she believes its lawmakers that should pay attention.

«I think it’s for any elected official that is not listening to their constituents again. It should be a message for any, any elected officials, regardless of their political affiliation,» Parker said.