No Rogue Rulings Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. -Rep. Tom McClintock (CA-05) delivered the following remarks on the House floor in support of H.R. 1526, the No Rogue Rulings Act of 2025:

Mr. Speaker:

In order for the Supreme Court to issue a ruling that affects the entire nation, at least FIVE justices of the Supreme Court must concur. Yet, today, individual district court judges are asserting this authority by themselves. This is an outrageous abuse of public trust and judicial power and has opened a pandora's box that threatens the fundamental constitutional order.

The Congress is elected to make law, the President is elected to enforce it. The judiciary is appointed for the sole purpose of resolving cases and controversies brought to it by individual injured parties. Traditionally, that means an injured party seeks redress through his local district court. This simple process assures decisions are limited to the unique circumstances of the individuals involved and are restricted to cases within that district, subject to appeal first to the circuit court and ultimately to the supreme court.

This assures that multiple voices contribute to the development of a legal consensus before the matter reaches the Supreme Court. A single district judge seizing this authority for himself utterly short-circuits this process and does incalculable injury to our Constitution.

The fact that 92 percent of the nationwide injunctions blocking President Trump have been issued by district court judges appointed by democrats, many with long histories of political activism, gravely undermines the public's confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary.

I am disappointed that the Supreme Court has not set its own house in order by restoring the judicial guardrails that protect us from judge-shopping, from political activism masquerading as judicial deliberation, and from the usurpation of the constitutional powers conferred upon the elected President and Congress. Four justices have signaled their readiness to do so. But without a fifth, Congress is left with no alternative but to act on its own authority, and with this bill, it does.