Constitutional Crisis Intensifies as Lawless Trump Ignores Federal Court Orders

The Trump administration's defiance of court orders that threaten to hamper the president and unelected billionaire Elon Musk's assault on federal agencies and basic rights has legal experts and other observers warning of a perilous new phase in the United States' rolling constitutional crisis.

On Monday, the Revolving Door Project (RDP) launched an effort to track the Trump administration's refusal to comply with orders from the federal judiciary and detail the impact that obstinance is having across the country.

The watchdog group pointed to several specific examples, including the Environmental Protection Agency's refusal to "disperse already-awarded grants funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, in apparent defiance of" federal judges' orders against the Trump administration's sweeping funding freeze.

"NOTHING is more important than civil society pressuring judges to have a spine in the face of Musk and Trump's intransigence," Jeff Hauser, RDP's executive director, wrote on social media late Monday. "Judicial orders must be enforced!"

Journalists Judd Legum and Noel Sims highlighted another example on Tuesday, noting that the administration is "prohibiting National Institutes of Health (NIH) staff from issuing virtually all grant funding" despite two federal court injunctions against the freeze.

David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, told Legum and Sims that the Trump administration is "in contempt of court," calling the continued freeze on NIH grants "completely unlawful."

"The administration cannot choose which law it will follow or ignore. These are not partisan or political issues. These are rule of law and process issues. We cannot afford to remain silent."

Super is among a growing number of legal experts sounding the alarm about the nation's descent into a full-blown constitutional emergency.

"We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis right now," Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law expert and dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, told The New York Times late last week. "There have been so many unconstitutional and illegal actions in the first 18 days of the Trump presidency. We never have seen anything like this."

"Systematic unconstitutional and illegal acts create a constitutional crisis," Chemerinsky added.

Both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have levied criticism at the federal judiciary in recent days as it has put up roadblocks that have hindered the new administration's ability to lawlessly impose its will.

"Certain activists and highly political judges want us to slow down, or stop," Trump wrote in a social media post early Tuesday, just days after Musk floated allowing "elected bodies" to terminate "the worst 1% of appointed judges."

Federal courts have proven a significant obstacle to the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose efforts to take over critical systems and seize highly sensitive data have sparked high-stakes legal battles.

In a statement on Monday, American Bar Association (ABA) president William Bay noted that "in the last 21 days, more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed alleging that the administration's actions violate the rule of law and are contrary to the Constitution or laws of the United States."

"The administration cannot choose which law it will follow or ignore," said Bay. "These are not partisan or political issues. These are rule of law and process issues. We cannot afford to remain silent. We must stand up for the values we hold dear. The ABA will do its part and act to protect the rule of law."

"We urge every attorney to join us and insist that our government, a government of the people, follow the law," he added. "It is part of the oath we took when we became lawyers. Whatever your political party or your views, change must be made in the right way. Americans expect no less."