The way the US Supreme Court is handling President Trump’s executive orders is doing serious damage to its reputation, argues Michael Zander KC
- The article argues that the US Supreme Court’s conservative majority is undermining its reputation by the way it it is dealing with far-reaching and probably unlawful presidential executive orders.
- The court is using its ‘shadow docket’ to allow implementation of executive orders without having hearings or giving reasons.
As at 15 September 2025, the number of court cases challenging actions taken by President Trump and/or his administration stood at 402. In the great majority of the cases that have reached a judicial decision, federal district courts have granted interim injunctions to stop the action being implemented, and those interim decisions have largely been upheld by next-level appeal courts (see Pt 1, NLJ, 28 March 2025, p18).
The district courts have generally begun with a temporary injunction before later making it permanent. The administration’s appeals to the next-level appeals courts
