Sen. John Kennedy Praises Supreme Court Ruling, Mocks
Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision limiting the use of nationwide injunctions, claiming the ruling is a win for legal clarity—and a cause for concern only to those who have misused the tool in the past.
In a Friday appearance on Fox News’ Faulkner Focus, Kennedy reacted to the Court’s 6–3 decision that reined in federal judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions blocking executive actions—like those previously issued during Donald Trump’s presidency. The senator said the ruling should be celebrated, citing its long-awaited curtailment of what he views as judicial overreach.
“Good Riddance”
“The Supreme Court has turned the universal injunctions into fish food, as well it should have,” Kennedy told host Harris Faulkner. “There’s no basis in statute, no basis in precedent, and no basis in English common law. Judges who just didn’t like what Congress or a president did simply invented them.”
He added, “Good riddance. I’m proud of the Supreme Court.”
Justice Jackson’s Dissent: “She’s Mad as a Bag of Cats”
Kennedy didn’t hold back in his critique of liberal opposition to the ruling, singling out Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s fiery dissent.
“You can tell how extensive and serious the ruling is just by reading her dissent,” he said. “She’s mad as a bag of cats—and that’s probably a good sign for the American people.”
Jackson dissented alongside Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, expressing concern about the impact of limiting the courts’ power to block executive actions with broad legal consequences.
Clarifying the Scope
Sen. Kennedy was quick to clarify that the ruling did not directly decide the fate of birthright citizenship—one of the hot-button executive orders from Trump currently under scrutiny—but rather struck down what he called the “illegal” authority of judges to block such policies nationwide.
“If they disagree, I’m sorry,” Kennedy quipped. “Fill out a hurt feelings report. Buy a comfort rock. But you can’t just stop an entire branch of government because you don’t like their policy.”
He added that both political parties have misused the power of universal injunctions in recent years, but claimed Democrats were the primary offenders.
Majority Opinion
Justice Amy Coney Barrett authored the majority opinion for the Court. In it, the conservative justices argued that nationwide injunctions—orders that prevent the federal government from enforcing laws or policies across the entire country—go beyond the appropriate role of federal courts.
The ruling is expected to have sweeping implications for how legal challenges against future presidential orders are handled, potentially restricting judges from blocking policies outside of the cases directly before them.
