No Rogue Rulings Act of 2025
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the judicial branch ensures that people, corporations, and even other branches of government follow the law, and if a President does something illegal, which this President is famous for, the only way for the courts to prevent thousands of people from being harmed is to order a nationwide injunction that stops him from doing that illegal thing.
It is essential to our democracy that the courts can serve as a check on a President who is trampling people's rights.
While proponents of the bill say that each aggrieved person should bring their own case, that just does not make sense. There is no way that each of the thousands of people harmed could pay for their own lawyer, get into a courtroom, and try their own case.
Aside from the difficulty and cost to everyone, our courts could never handle that volume of cases. With dockets already bursting at the seams, justice would be delayed. It would be so delayed that it would be denied. It would be inefficient, cost prohibitive, and unfair.
That is what Republicans want because Federal courts keep ruling against Trump's unlawful and unconstitutional executive actions. Therefore, they are trying to hamstring the courts so that Trump can't be stopped.
We need our courts to continue to serve as a bulwark of democracy against the Trump administration's flood of illegal actions. That is why I rise today in opposition to this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an April 2, 2025, letter addressed to Pam Bondi from 500 law firms and lawyers across the Nation. April 2, 2025. Hon. Pamela Bondi, Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
Dear Attorney General Bondi: We are members of the legal profession and entities that provide legal representation and work in law. We do not agree on all matters and, in fact, at times have been or are adverse to each other in court or other professional settings. Despite our differences, we all share a commitment to the United States Constitution, the rule of law, and the role of the legal system in protecting the rights of all people and ensuring all of us can have our day in court. This commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law requires that lawyers be able to operate with independence, without fear of retaliation for bringing lawsuits in good faith, and without attempts to deter recourse to the legal system.
We write to you, as the nation's highest ranking legal official, out of deep concern regarding a number of actions that the President of the United States and his administration have taken and a number of statements targeting lawyers and the legal profession.
The following are illustrative examples of the concerning actions and statements:
On February 25, 2025, the President issued a memo titled ``Suspension of Security Clearances and Evaluation of Government Contracts'' targeting Covington & Burling LLP.
On March 6, 2025, the President issued a memo titled ``Addressing Risks from Perkins Coie LLP.''
On March 11, 2025, the President issued a memo titled ``Ensuring the Enforcement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c),'' aiming to make it harder for organizations, communities, and individuals to enforce their rights.
On March 14, 2025, at the Department of Justice, the President called his courtroom opponents ``scum,'' judges ``corrupt,'' and prosecutors ``deranged.''
On March 14, 2025, the President issued a memo titled ``Addressing Risks from Paul Weiss.''
On March 22, 2025, the President issued a memo titled ``Rescinding Security Clearances and Access to Classified Information from Specified Individuals.''
On March 22, 2025, the President sent a memo to Attorney General Pam Bondi titled ``Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court.''
It is your responsibility, as the lawyer ultimately entrusted with the representation of the United States in legal matters, to oppose attacks on the legal profession, on judges, and on the rule of law and to ensure that the Department of Justice uses its full power to protect the legal profession and equal justice under law for all people.
Attacking legal advocates based on the positions they take in good faith litigation or based on who their clients are or have been is inconsistent with our nation's values and with the Constitution's contemplation of the functioning of the judicial branch. Indeed before the founding of the United States, John Adams, an ardent supporter of American independence and someone who opposed King George III, famously represented the British crown's own soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre--driven by an unwavering commitment to fair process and equal justice.
During your confirmation hearings earlier this year before the United States Senate, you pledged to ensure that there was ``confidence and integrity'' in the United States Department of Justice and stated that you opposed the ``partisan weaponization'' of the Department. It is incumbent on you to use all of the tools available to you to preserve and protect the independence and integrity of the legal profession, including opposing the use of the federal government to attack lawyers, law firms, and legal organizations for engaging in good faith representation of their clients. Respectfully yours, ORGANIZATIONS AND FIRMS
Acacia Center for Justice; Access Justice Brooklyn; ACLU of Massachusetts; Advocates for Trans Equality; Aguilar Monett Law, P.L.L.C.; AH Law Firm, PLLC; Al Otro Lado; Ali & Lockwood, LLP; Alliance for Justice; Altshuler Berzon, LLP; Alyssa Rodriguez Center for Gender Justice; American Civil Liberties Union; American Constitution Society; American Gateways; American Immigration Council; American Immigration Lawyers Association; American Oversight; Americans United for Separation of Church and State; Amica Center for Immigrant; Rights; Amsale Aberra Law, PLLC.
Animal and Earth Advocates; Ann Fromholz, The Fromholz Firm, PLC; Ariel Law; Arseneault & Fassett, LLC; Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC; Asian Law Caucus; Autistic Self Advocacy Network; Barbosa Group; Beckner Immigration Law, PLLC; Bendit Weinstock, P.A.; Bennett Law Firm; Bernard M. Resnick, Esq. P.C.; Blue Cedar Law, LLC; Bopp & Guecia; Bravo Schrager, LLP; Brennan Center for Justice; Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP; Calderone McKay, LLC; Candy's Mobile Soup Kitchen; Caryn Groedel & Associates Co,, LPA.
Cascadia Cross Border Law Group; Center for Biological Diversity; Center for Civil Rights and Critical Justice; Center for Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity; Center for Elder Law & Justice; Center for Gender & Refugee Studies; Center for HIV Law and Policy; Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law; Center for International Environmental Law; Center for Medicare Advocacy; Center for Public Representation; Center for Reproductive Rights; Chandler McNulty, LLP; Chiave Law, LLC; Children's Law Center; Christopher Pioch and Associates; Cipollone Legal Consults LLC; Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; Clements Employment Law, PC; Collective Action Lab, LLC; Commisso Law, P.C.
Conklin Immigration Law, LLC; Constitutional Accountability Center; Council for Global Equality; Court Accountability Action; Courts Matter Illinois; Criss and Rousseau Law Firm, L.L.P.; Critical Legal Collective; Crossroads Highway Products, LLC; Dane Shulman Associates, LLC; Daniel Kramer, Kramer Trial Lawyers APC; Debski Law; Decision Point Strategy Group, LLC; Decisive Discovery; Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries; Demand Justice; Democracy Forward Foundation; Derrick Law Group; Diehl & Weger, AAL, ALC; Dignidad; Disability Law United; Disability Rights Bar Association.
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund; DK Global Consulting; DLGPA; Donahue, Goldberg & Herzog; Dryer & Peterson, P.C.; Earthjustice; Edward J. Ungvarsky, Ungvarsky Law, PLLC; Edwards, McLeod & Money, P.C.; Edzant Price LLP; Einstein & Habbeshaw P.C.; Electronic Frontier Foundation; Elias Law Group, LLP; Entre Hermanos; Environmental Integrity Project; Episcopal Churches of the Big Bend; Equal Justice Society; Equal Rights Advocates Equality California; Equality Legal Action Fund; Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project; Erin B. Shank, P.C.; Experience Justice.
Florida Immigration Law and Justice Center; Florida Justice Institute; Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality; Friedman & Associates P.C.; Friedman Gilbert + Gerhardstein; G. Allan Van Fleet, P.C.; GenDemocracy; Glad Law LLC; Gonzalez Law Offices, Inc.; Green Energy Law, LLC; Grimes Law Firm; Grossman Young & Hammond, LLC; Hartman Law Group; Hepworth Holzer, LLP; HLAS; Hopkins-Laster Law Office; Hull, PC; Human Rights First; Hykel Law, LLC; Immigrant, ARC; Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef).
Immigration Equality; Immigration Law & Justice New York; Impact Fund; Indivisible Tri-Valley (California/Bay Area); Innovation Law Lab; InReach (fka AsylumConnect); International Refugee Assistance Project; J. Pace Law, PLLC; Jahn Law Office LLC; James & Hoffman, P.C.; James E. Iniguez; JLM Partners; Johnston George LLP; Journey's End Refugee Services; Julie King, King Business and Patent Law, PLLC; JustCause; Justice in Aging; Justice in Motion; Kakalec Law PLLC; Kaplan Law Firm, PLLC; Kat Bond Law; Kathy Perkins LLC; Keating Brown PLLC; King Business and Patent Law, PLLC; Klein LLC.
Krantz and Berman LLP; Lance Conklin, Conklin Immigration Law, LLC; Lane Law Associates; Langsley Mills Law LLC; LatinoJustice PRLDEF; Lauri Waldman Ross P.A.; Law Office Marcia Conrad; Law Office of Amanda L. Smith, PLLC; Law Office of Arnie Rodnick; Law Office of Andrea Marcus, APC; Law Office of David M. Goldman; Law Office of Denise Lanchantin Dwyer LLC; Law Office of James B. Cronon, LLC; Law Office of James F. Lentz; Law Office of Jeanett P. Henry; Law Office of John Oleske; Law Office of Judith Rosenberg; Law Office of Julie Low; Law Office of Kara Jennings, LLC; Law Office of Kathleen S. Lane; Law Office of Kenneth R. Ormes; Law Office of Kim McCormick, PLLC; Law Office of Leonard A. Englander, Esq., LLC; Law Office of Mary Ellen Sach; Law Office of Michele A. Santucci.
Law Office of Nancy Grim; Law Office of Patavee Vanadilok, P.C.; Law Office of Patricia M. Corrales; Law Office of Paul L. Spaulding, PC; Law Office of Paul O'Dwyer P.C.; Law Office of Peter W. Hill; Law Office of Sandra Gillies; Law Office of Suzanne Bryant; Law Office of Charles H. Montange; Law Offices of Dawson, Dawson and Dawson, PLLC; Law Offices of Diane J.N. Morin, Inc.; Law Office of Eric A. Greenwald; Law Office of John Kostyack, PLLC; Law Offices of Mark J. Yost, APC; Law Offices of Michael V. Kern, Chartered; Law Offices of Peter J. Crosby; Law Offices of Robert D. Richman; Law Offices of Robert P. Gaffney; Law Offices of Stuart Levine, LLC; LawQuant LLC; Lawyering Project Inc.; Lawyers Defending American Democracy; Lawyers for Good Government; Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Legacy Estate Planning & Elder Law PLC; Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo; Legal Aid Justice Center; Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice; Leung Law PLLC; Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy; Lyons & Salky Law, LLP; Lyons Legal Group; M. Ali Zakaria & Associates, PC; Margaret Mazanec Law Office, LLC; Margolis & Cross; Marshall & Saunders, P.S.; Martens+ Associates; MaryRose Ebos Law Professional Corporation; Mason LLP; McElfresh Law, Inc.; McGettrick Law, PLLC; McGill & Co., P.C.; McIfill Consulting LLC/La Maison Michelle Retreats; Mehri & Skalet, PLLC; Melnik Legal, PLLC.
MetroWest Legal Services; MHK Dispute Resolution Services, LC; Millennium Legal; Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund (MBELDEF); MM Spencer Law Offices; Multiforum Advocacy Solutions; National Association of Consumer Advocates; National Capital Legal Services; National Center for Law and Economic Justice; National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients); National Consumers League; National Disabled Legal Professionals Association; National Employment Law Project; National Employment Lawyers Association/New York; National Health Law Program.
National Housing Law Project; National Immigrant Justice Center; National Immigration Law Center; National Immigration Project; National Lawyers Guild Los Angeles; National Legal Aid & Defender Association; National LGBTQ+ Bar Association; National Women's Law Center; Network for Public Health Law; New Counsel PLC; New York Lawyers for the Public Interest; Newman
Pathway for Immigrant Workers; Paul A. Nelson, PA; People For the American Way; Perrin Law Office; Peter Romer-Friedman Law PLLC; Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Prison Law Office; Professional Corporation; Progressive State Leaders Committee; Project On Government Oversight; Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK); Public Citizen; Public Counsel; Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility; Public Knowledge; Public Rights Project; Q, Esq. PLLC; Ramona Ortega, Rhia Ventures; Ratkowski Law PLLC; Ray Law International P.C.; Reid Levin, PLLC; Reilly Law, PLC; Relman Colfax PLLC; Represent.Us of New Jersey.
Ritz Clark & Ben-ASher LLP; Rivas Immigration Law PS; Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights; Roberto E. Quijano; Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network; Roger Greenbaum Equity Law & Mediation; Romanette Legal PLLC; Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld; Rosenblum Immigration Law, PLLC; Rourke & Rosenberg LLC; Rural Law Center of New York; Salazar Law & Mediations; Salvador Colon, PC; Sandven Consulting, LLC; Santulli Schudda Law Office, LLC; Sarah Ward Law PLLC; Schenck and Long; Shames & Litwin; Shames & Litwin; Sharma Law PLLC; Sharon Powell, Powell Law PLLC; Sharp Law Firm, P.A.; Sherry Jones, P.A.; Shreefer Law Firm, LLC; Silver State Equality; Silvix Resources.
Social Justice Legal Foundation; Society for the Rule of Law Institute; Solomon Law Firm, PLLC; South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center; Southeastern Law LLC; Southend Indivisible, King County, WA; Souza Immigration Law PLLC; Standifer Law LLC; State Democracy Defenders Fund; Staton & Nolan, LLC; Steinhoff Law; Stellar 5 Legal, LLC; Steven M. Schneebaum, P.C.; Susan Brunner LLC; Susan M. Swan, Swan Employment Law; Swanson Law, PLLC; Systems Change Consulting; Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors; Texas Civil Rights Project; Texas Immigration Law Council.
The Advocates for Human Rights; The Bricks Law Firm, P.C.; The Chandra Law Firm LLC; The Collaborative Law and Justice Center; The Coppola Firm; The Day Law Practice, LLC; The Disability Information Network; The Door Legal Services Center; The Law Office of Brett E Marston; The Law Office of Elliot P. Forhan; The Law Office of Leslie A. Butler, PLLC; The Law Office of Timothy J. Deffet; The Price Law Firm; The Public Interest Law Project; The Right to Immigration Institute; The Shattuck Law Office LLC; Third Act Lawyers; Towards Justice; Trager Law Firm, PLLC; Trine Law Firm LLC; Turner & Turner, Attorneys at Law; Tzedek DC.
Untiedt Dabdoub, PLLC; Urban Justice Center; Urofsky Legal Advisory Services, PLLC; VECINA; Vera Institute of Justice; Vermont Asylum Assistance Project; VIDAS; Virginia Poverty Law Center; VKV Law Group, LLC; Vogele Law PLLC; Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, Inc.; Walden Law, PLLC; Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs; Weiner Law; Welch ADR; Western New York Law Center, Inc.; William E. Morris Institute for Justice; Women & Justice Issues; Women Lawyers On Guard Action Network, Inc.; Worksafe; Wynne & Wynne, Austin.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, a link to the entire document can be found here: https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/ 2025/04/Final-Letter-Regarding-Protecting-the-Legal-Profession__- 4.2.25-Upd-1.pdf.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source