Trump critics say administration threatens ‘rule of law’

The rule of law — the principle that everyone must obey judicial orders and that laws apply equally to everybody — has become a cudgel for critics of President Trump as he fires federal workers, halts spending and rewrites immigration enforcement.

From the halls of Congress to the terabytes of social media, liberal leaders have accused Mr. Trump of straining the “guardrails” of democracy and assaulting the order of things.

“Donald Trump’s first weeks in office have been marked by disregard for the rule of law,” said the Brennan Center for Justice.

“He’s always admired autocrats,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said on the Senate floor. “Always showed contempt for the rule of law, for truth, for accountability, for facts.”

The American Bar Association has been disturbed enough to issue two broadsides at Mr. Trump over the rule of law. The criticism points to the president’s moves to limit birthright citizenship, dismantle foreign aid programs, curtail diversity spending and deploy technology billionaire Elon Musk to downsize the bureaucracy.

“This is chaotic. It may appeal to a few. But it is wrong. And most Americans recognize it is wrong. It is also contrary to the rule of law,” the left-leaning American Bar Association said in one of its statements.

The gripes have long existed, but a social media post from Mr. Trump set things ablaze after some adverse rulings from judges.

“He who saves his Country does not violate any law,” the president posted on Feb. 15, using a quote often attributed to French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, declared that sentiment “a serious threat to our constitutional order and the separation of powers.”

Mr. Schumer said the president was leading a “scorched-earth assault on the rule of law.”

Curt Levey, president of the Committee for Justice, said the complaints are standard attacks on Mr. Trump.

“It is a reflexive, overused, catchall complaint from Trump haters who are upset with one of the president’s policy and personnel decisions but can’t quite come up with specific and substantive legal arguments against them,” Mr. Levey said.

Elliot Mincberg, a senior fellow at People for the American Way, said something is different about Mr. Trump’s threats this time. He wondered whether the president would try to defy judicial orders.

“The administration has kind of gone right up to the edge but hasn’t quite attacked it or defied a court order as of yet. There have certainly been indications they might,” Mr. Mincberg said.

Mr. Trump said this month that he will abide by court decisions that rule against his moves.

“I always abide by the courts, and then I’ll have to appeal it,” Mr. Trump said. 

The fair application of the rule of law is very much in the eye of the beholder.

During the Biden administration, Republicans complained as the Justice Department pursued pro-life activists and Jan. 6 defendants while applying a lighter touch on Black Lives Matter rioters and pro-life pregnancy center attacks.

Republicans were particularly furious over what they saw as the Democratic president’s disregard for immigration law as he fabricated new avenues for unauthorized migrants to stream into the country.

The day Mr. Schumer was on the Senate floor claiming Mr. Trump was violating the rule of law, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, praised the president for reviving “respect for the rule of law” in immigration policy.

The American Bar Association was particularly incensed when Vice President J.D. Vance complained about adverse judicial rulings limiting some of Mr. Trump’s most aggressive early moves. He said the judges were trying to “control the executive’s legitimate power.”

Mr. Musk called for one of the judges to be impeached.

“These statements threaten the very foundation of our constitutional system,” the American Bar Association said in a statement demanding that “every lawyer and legal organization” condemn them.

Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, said the American Bar Association “doth protest too much.”

“This organization has taken some fairly fringe, left-wing positions, such as arguing that the Equal Rights Amendment was in fact ratified,” Mr. Blackman said. “The ABA should be viewed as just another liberal public interest organization and not a group that speaks for lawyers or the rule of law.”

• Stephen Dinan contributed to this report.