Less than a month into his return to the Oval Office, President Donald Trump has faced numerous court challenges and legal blocks in response to his wave of executive orders and sweeping policy actions.
Commentary from the White House, Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk on the judiciary and the rule of law has raised concerns among critics like George Conway, who predicts that Trump will "not obey their [court] orders," which could mean our judicial system is "over."
Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment via email on Friday.
Why It Matters
Conway, who is an attorney and co-founder of the anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project, is a frequent critic of the former president. He is the ex-husband of Kellyanne Conway, a former senior adviser to Trump.
Several federal judges have blocked several Trump orders from immediate action amid allegations that the president is ignoring some of the rulings. Democrats and Trump critics have warned of a looming "constitutional crisis," accusing Trump of overstepping presidential authority and disregarding legal constraints.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back, saying: "We believe these judges are acting as judicial activists rather than honest arbiters of the law," arguing that "the real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch."
What To Know
Trump has signed a number of executive orders that federal judges have temporarily blocked related to immigration, federal spending and freezes, slashing the federal workforce, and dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and other issues.
"This is an administration that insists on violating laws," Conway said on a February 13 episode of the podcast On With Kara Swisher. The episode was taped on the morning of February 11, ahead of Trump's response that he would abide by court rulings.
Conway continued: "This administration is essentially run by sociopaths, by psychopaths," adding: "Sociopaths do not follow rules, they think they are above rules, they think they make the rules, they are arbitrary and capricious, and this is where we are now."
Trump and some of his top advisers and allies have openly criticized court rulings and temporary blocks in recent days, leading to speculation that the administration might defy decisions it disagrees with in legal battles that could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Conway told Swisher: "He will not obey their [court] orders," adding: "It is at that point, that basically the courts become useless, the law becomes useless because it can't be enforced. And he has the power to do this, the raw power to do this—not the constitutional power."
Trump allies have already begun to question the judiciary's role, with Vance writing in a February 9 social media post that "judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power." Hours later, Trump criticized a federal judge's decision to block the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—a White House-endorsed initiative led by tech billionaire Musk that is not a formal government agency—from accessing sensitive data at the Treasury Department.
Musk has publicly expressed anger over some of the rulings and on Wednesday called for a "wave of judicial impeachments, not just one."
Conway said that because the judiciary relies on the Department of Justice-controlled U.S. Marshals Service to enforce orders, Trump could undermine the system by installing someone who refuses to act against him.
"Basically all he has to do is put somebody there who is going to follow his orders not to enforce judicial orders against him, and it's over," Conway said. "Our 236-year experiment in the rule of law, in federal rule of law and constitutionalism is effectively over, unless people get into the streets and try and take it back."
Attorney General Pam Bondi was confirmed earlier this month and said during a Wednesday news conference that judicial impeachments are "not going to happen" right now.
What People Are Saying
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told Newsweek in a statement this week: "Each executive order will hold up in court because every action of the Trump-Vance administration is completely lawful. Any legal challenge against it is nothing more than an attempt to undermine the will of the American people."
Elon Musk, who owns X and serves as the head of DOGE, in a Thursday social media post: "If ANY judge ANYWHERE can stop EVERY Presidential action EVERYWHERE, we do NOT live in a democracy."
Quinta Jurecic, fellow at the Brookings Institution, told The New York Times: "What Vance's wording suggests is that the executive could potentially respond to a court order by saying to the court, 'You're unconstitutionally intruding on my authority and I'm not going to do what you say.' At that point, the Constitution falls apart."
What Happens Next
When asked if he would comply with court orders that blocked his policy agenda, Trump said on Tuesday: "The answer is I always abide by the courts, always abide by them. And we'll appeal."
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About the writer
Mandy Taheri is a Newsweek reporter based in Brooklyn. She joined Newsweek as a reporter in 2024. You can get ... Read more