Affirming the obligation of the President of the United States to comply with court orders.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 188 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 188

   Affirming the obligation of the President of the United States to 
                       comply with court orders.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 4, 2025

  Mr. Mullin (for himself, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. 
Norton, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Tlaib, 
  Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. 
   Soto, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Swalwell, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. 
Khanna, Ms. McCollum, Mrs. McIver, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, and Mr. Green 
of Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Affirming the obligation of the President of the United States to 
                       comply with court orders.

Whereas the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington 
        on January 23, 2025, the United States District Court for the District 
        of Maryland on February 5, 2025, and the United States District Court 
        for the District of New Hampshire on February 10, 2025, issued temporary 
        restraining orders to prevent President of the United States Donald J. 
        Trump from enforcing or implementing his executive order that would deny 
        citizenship to individuals born in the United States;
Whereas the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on February 20, 
        2025, denied an emergency request to lift an injunction on President 
        Trump's executive order that would deny citizenship to individuals born 
        in the United States;
Whereas the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on January 
        28, 2025, and the United States District Court for the District of Rhode 
        Island on January 31, 2025, and again on February 10, 2025, issued 
        temporary restraining orders to prevent the Trump administration from 
        pausing, freezing, or terminating Federal funds appropriated by 
        Congress;
Whereas the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York 
        issued a temporary order on February 8, 2025, preventing President Trump 
        from granting access to Treasury Department payment records and systems 
        to any individual other than civil servants with a need for access to 
        perform their job duties;
Whereas the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on 
        February 25, 2025, entered a preliminary injunction preventing the 
        Office of Management and Budget from implementing, giving effect to, or 
        reinstating a memorandum freezing all federal financial assistance under 
        open awards;
Whereas the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York 
        on February 21, 2025, granted a preliminary injunction barring the 
        Treasury Department from granting any member of the DOGE team access to 
        payment records, payment systems, or any other data systems maintained 
        by the Treasury Department;
Whereas the United States District Court for the Northern District of California 
        on February 27, 2025, issued a temporary restraining order requiring the 
        Office of Personnel and Management to rescind a directive to terminate 
        employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Park 
        Service, the Small Business Administration, the Bureau of Land 
        Management, the Department of Defense, and the Fish and Wildlife 
        Service;
Whereas, on February 9, 2025, Vice President of the United States J.D. Vance 
        declared on X: ``Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's 
        legitimate power'';
Whereas, on February 15, 2025, President Trump declared on X: ``He who saves his 
        Country does not violate any Law'';
Whereas it has been established since 1803 in Marbury v. Madison that it is 
        ``the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law 
        is'', and it has been further established since 1952 in Youngstown Sheet 
        & Tube Co. v. Sawyer that the President's power ``must stem either from 
        an Act of Congress or from the Constitution'';
Whereas the United States Constitution, and hundreds of years of common law 
        tradition, require all persons to comply with orders issued by duly 
        established courts of jurisdiction;
Whereas the legal process allows for the opportunity to appeal a decision with 
        which a litigant disagrees;
Whereas the duty to abide by a court order applies equally to all persons of the 
        United States, including but not limited to government lawyers, all of 
        whom must practice law in accordance with federal and state law;
Whereas those who defy a court order must be held accountable by our legal 
        system; and
Whereas failing to comply with court orders puts the rule of law and the 
        separation of powers established by the Constitution in grave jeopardy: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) affirms the essential role of the judiciary in 
        upholding checks and balances among the three coequal branches 
        of the United States Government;
            (2) calls on President Donald J. Trump and his 
        administration to immediately comply with all existing court 
        orders and decisions going forward; and
            (3) affirms the judiciary's authority to use all of the 
        tools given to it by the Constitution and Congress to enforce 
        its orders.
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