Democrats were gleeful Thursday after a federal appeals court declined to reinstate President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s leading Democrat, said in a tweet it was time for Trump to “see the writing on the wall, abandon proposal, roll up his sleeves & come up w/ a real, bipartisan plan to keep us safe.”
The ruling from a three-judge panel means that citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries will continue to be able to travel to the US, despite Trump’s executive order last month. It is a significant political setback to Trump’s new administration and raises questions about how the courts will view his apparent vision for an expansive use of executive power from the Oval Office on which he is anchoring the early weeks of his presidency.
Hillary Clinton, the woman whom Trump defeated in the general election last November, referred simply to the unanimous ruling in a tweet: “3-0”
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway quickly responded to Clinton by mentioning three states in which Trump upset the former secretary of state in the election: “PA, WI, MI.”
Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland said on “The Situation Room” that the injunction was evidence “that our check and balance system is working in our country.”
“It shows that the courts are going to be there when President Trump uses his power and exceeds his constitutional authority,” Cardin said.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront” that Trump “got beat. He got thumped.”
“This is checks and balances in operation. The President needs to understand the Constitution rules supreme,” he said.
Asked by Burnett if the judges felt pressure to unanimously reject the Justice Department’s argument because of Trump’s previous attacks on the judiciary, Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas said “it’s certainly possible.”
“I don’t think his rhetoric and being so disrespectful to a co-equal branch of government was helpful to him,” Castro said.
But Rep. Peter King, a Republican congressman from New York, criticized the 9th Circuit Court as politicized.
“I think the 9th Circuit is wrong here in trying to interject its opinions or its beliefs on foreign policy and on immigration,” he said on “The SItuation Room.” “It is, you know, the most liberal court in the country. That’s what it is. And this has to be played out and ultimately probably in the Supreme Court.”
