Did Republicans Just Make the Trump Administration Immune from Court Rulings?

If the "No Contempt Clause" becomes law, it’ll cause chaos for our courts and country

We get a lot of replies to our posts and emails, and it’s rare that nearly every response is asking about the same exact thing. But that’s what happened last week after we sent an email about Republicans’ Medicaid-slashing reconciliation bill.

Loads of folks have reached out about House Republicans’ single-sentence sneak-attack on federal courts—a provision buried deep in the 1,000 page megabill that some fear would allow the Trump administration to totally ignore court orders. People are asking:

What does this mean exactly?
Is this a done-deal, or can we stop it?
What are you doing to fight back?
What can *I* do to help?
Is this really as bad as it sounds?

We’ll try answering all those questions in a moment, but let’s start with the last one first:

Donald Trump is a lawless menace trying to disregard the constitution and grab king-like power, and this “No Contempt Clause” is a serious escalation requiring a strong and immediate response. But it is NOT a permanent end to judiciary checks and balances.

And yes—we can stop it.

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What Does the Provision Really Do?

The No Contempt Clause limits courts’ authority to hold government officials in contempt when they violate a court order. But this next part is really important:

It does NOT fully eliminate contempt authority—not even close. In fact, the clause leaves a simple workaround in place that judges will likely use to hold the administration accountable in future cases.

Let’s unpack that. To start, here’s the exact text of the provision:

No court of the United States may enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c), whether issued prior to, on, or subsequent to the date of enactment of this section.

Confused? We don’t blame you! The true legal eagles might be ready to jump ahead to the next section, but for everybody else, here’s what that means in plain English...

In civil and criminal cases, judges sometimes require parties to post money called “bond”—or “security,” in the bill text above—to help ensure litigants follow court rulings. But in cases involving the federal government, a bond is rarely required.

There are already dozens of court orders against the Trump administration in cases with no bond; House Republicans’ sneaky provision aims to retroactively defang those rulings by saying judges can’t enforce contempt of court unless that “security” is in place! The orders would still exist, but judges would have no means to enforce them.

If the No Contempt Clause becomes law, it’ll cause chaos for our courts and country—not just by (temporarily) freeing Trump from legal restraints, but by upending decades of key judicial rulings.

Dozens of injunctions against the Trump administration—including rulings protecting Birthright Citizenship, combating unlawful deportations, and restoring funds targeted by DOGE—would become temporarily unenforceable under this provision. And that’s only part of the issue.

Thousands of other cases that have nothing to do with Trump would also be caught up in this reckless attack on the courts! Even decades-old landmark rulings relating to civil rights, voting rights, and gun control could become effectively powerless.

Republicans probably didn’t intend the provision to be SO broad that it undermines thousands of cases, but, well, they wrote this thing and rammed it through in the dark of night, without understanding the repercussions.

But even if the No Contempt Clause passes, judges will still have the power to hold government officials accountable.

The requirement to secure a bond would create an extra step—but not an insurmountable barrier—for judges to charge officials with contempt of court. As Democracy Docket explains, “judges presiding over Trump-related lawsuits would still have the discretion to significantly minimize the bond amount—potentially to just $1—when reissuing orders.”

In other words, judges hearing future cases could nullify the No Contempt Clause by requiring a token bond virtually any litigants can afford, and judges on currently active cases may be able to reissue recent orders to do the same.

To sum things up, the No Contempt Clause would unleash legal chaos by rendering thousands of existing rulings unenforceable—all to make it harder, but by no means impossible, to hold Trump and his officials in contempt.

It may not be the democracy-threatening masterstroke that some initially feared, but it’s still a reckless, anti-democratic ploy that needs to be stopped. And luckily, we have time left to stop it.

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What Happens Next?

The reconciliation bill now heads to the Senate, where it’ll be substantially rewritten before it can win the 51 votes needed to pass. From our standpoint, that leaves three paths to killing the No Contempt Clause before it can get to Trump’s desk:

1. Vulnerable Senate Republicans could take it out. Republicans facing tough re-election races want to dial back the “politically toxic” pieces of this bill as much as possible—and unlike when House Republicans snuck it in hours before voting, their secret plan to shield Trump is out now. Senators can’t quietly pass this clause and hope nobody notices.

2. The Senate parliamentarian could rule against it. Under a Senate rule called the Byrd Rule, only policies that impact budgets/revenue can be included in reconciliation bills. This clause doesn’t do that, so the parliamentarian—essentially the Senate referee—could rule that the bill can’t move forward until it’s removed. (That’s admittedly not a sure thing, though; Republicans have defied the parliamentarian before.)

3. The entire bill could fail outright. In our response to the House megabill vote, we outlined the huge inter-party fights still ahead for House and Senate Republicans. If we exploit their divisions and keep turning up political pressure, we have a real chance to stop this bill in its entirety—just like we did last time the GOP used reconciliation to try taking healthcare away.

And even if the No Contempt Clause does manage to squeak through Congress and onto Trump’s desk, it could be met with swift legal challenges once it’s passed.

In short, this isn’t a done deal. Far from it.

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How Can We Fight Back Today?

Since the reconciliation bill still needs to pass the Senate—and then get voted on for a second time in the House—we need to hold Republicans in both chambers accountable and keep turning the political tides against the bill.

Here are four actions you can take right now:

1. Email your senators to demand they speak out against this chaos-inducing attack on democracy. We need to get GOP senators on the record about this sneak-attack on checks and balances, and we need to push Democrats to speak out LOUDLY about what Republicans are attempting.

2. If you have a Republican representative, send an email shaming them for supporting the dangerous reconciliation bill. House Republicans betrayed their constituents by voting to gut Medicaid, crush SNAP, and weaken the courts—all so Trump can gain more wealth and power. Let’s hold them accountable.
   

3. Sign up for a phonebank to mobilize people in key states against the Republican reconciliation bill. Phonebank volunteers connect other folks directly to their Republican senators so they can voice their opposition to the dangerous megabill. Phonebanks are open each week in June to volunteers nationwide; all you need is a phone and a computer.
   

4. Join a No Kings protest on Saturday, June 14, to rally against Trump’s tyrannical power-grab. We’re gathering millions of Americans in thousands of places to remind the world what democracy looks like. Together, we’ll show the overwhelming resistance towards authoritarianism of all kinds—including this bid to sideline the courts.

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Folks are right to call attention to this chaotic attempt at shielding Trump. But this is a time to organize—not to agonize. The No Contempt Clause isn’t an insurmountable barrier to holding Trump accountable, and together we can defeat it.

– Indivisible