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After a string of high-profile wins at the Supreme Court, President Donald Trump’s administration suffered one of its toughest weeks yet in the lower courts, as judges across the country blocked key pillars of his domestic agenda and issued sharp rebukes of his use of executive power.
In a span of days, federal judges struck down Trump’s attempt to cut more than $2 billion in funding to Harvard University, ruled his deployment of the National Guard in California unlawful, halted deportations under a wartime law, and blocked his administration from terminating legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Venezuelans.
The setbacks come on the heels of another blow last week, when an appeals court invalidated parts of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, saying the president had overstepped his authority. That ruling is already on emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.
Despite the defeats, Trump’s administration has prevailed in 17 out of 22 emergency requests before the high court, according to an NBC News analysis. White House aides say the strategy remains to “flood the zone” with executive orders and test the limits of presidential authority.
“The courts aren’t going to strike down all that they’re doing,” one lawyer close to the White House said in May. “At the end of the day, they’ll end up accomplishing more.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson dismissed the setbacks in a statement Friday, saying “with almost 20 Supreme Court victories, the Trump Administration’s policies have been consistently upheld.”
Harvard funding cuts called ‘unconstitutional’
The sharpest rebuke came from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston, who ruled the administration’s decision to freeze Harvard’s federal research grants was unconstitutional and “reeked of pretext.”
The administration claimed the cuts were tied to Harvard’s failure to combat antisemitism, but Burroughs said the effort amounted to an “ideologically motivated assault” on higher education.
“The terminated grants related to all manner of medical, scientific, technological, and other projects,” she wrote, calling the move a violation of the First Amendment and federal civil rights law.
The White House vowed to appeal.
Judge blocks National Guard deployment in California
In California, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found the administration had illegally used the military for civilian law enforcement during immigration protests in Los Angeles.
His 52-page ruling said the deployment of Marines and National Guard troops violated the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which bars the use of the armed forces for domestic policing without congressional approval.
Breyer stayed his ruling until Sept. 12 to allow for an appeal.
Alien Enemies Act deportations halted
A federal appeals court in Louisiana blocked Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport alleged members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the administration failed to show the gang’s activities amounted to an “invasion or predatory incursion” that would trigger the wartime statute.
The judges noted that other provisions of immigration law already allow for swift removal of designated terrorists, undermining the need for Trump’s proclamation.
TPS terminations overturned
And in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen struck down Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians and Venezuelans.
Chen called the move “arbitrary and capricious,” saying it broke with decades of bipartisan precedent that relied on State Department and DHS analysis before making such determinations.
“For 35 years, the TPS statute has been faithfully executed,” Chen wrote. “Until now.”
Tariffs headed to Supreme Court
Meanwhile, Trump’s most politically sensitive loss — a ruling striking down his use of emergency powers to impose tariffs — is already before the Supreme Court on appeal. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned in court filings that the ruling risks “derailing critical ongoing negotiations with foreign trading partners.”
