That Didn't Take Long: D.C. Circuit Places Stay on Key Ruling That Favored Trump Administration

On Saturday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a significant ruling — a win for the Trump administration as it stayed the lower court's injunctions, but what really made it of note was the court's opinion, which set forth the framework that district courts should be adhering to in analyzing many of the cases currently pending before them regarding the administration's actions.

The ruling came in a group of cases, consolidated for the purposes of appeal, involving the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees federally funded broadcast networks, including Voice of America. Judge Royce Lamberth of the D.C. District Court (a Reagan appointee) had issued preliminary injunctions in all of the cases, requiring the administration to return USAGM employees and contractors to their positions and restore funding to the various entities.

The administration appealed those orders, and the Circuit Court of Appeals panel first administratively (i.e., temporarily) stayed the lower court injunctions, then, on Saturday, issued its order formally staying the injunctions during the appeal.

That ruling came from a three-judge panel, consisting of Judges Gregory Katsas (Trump) and Neomi Rao (Trump), who formed the majority, and Judge Cornelia Pillard (Obama), who dissented. (The straggler case, RFE/RL v. Lake, received a similar stay from the three-judge panel on Wednesday with the same reasoning.)

Of course, the expectation was that the plaintiffs would seek a rehearing en banc (i.e., of the full court), and they promptly did. Like clockwork, late Wednesday evening, the full court issued an order administratively staying the prior order(s) issued by the three-judge panel.

⚖️ In the USAGM cases, full D.C. Circuit places administrative stay on D.C. panel's prior stay of district court's preliminary injunctions. [A stay of a stay of a stay.] Judges Katsas and Rao (who authored panel opinion) dissent. https://t.co/VDO3lCUrcJ
— Susie Moore ⚾️🌻🐶 (@SmoosieQ) May 8, 2025

If you're trying to keep up here, that's a stay of a stay of a stay. Translated into English, that means the Trump administration must hold up on carrying out its plans as to USAGM, at least as to the withholding of funding for the broadcast networks. (So, for now, the employment actions appear to still be a go.)

Now, I do want to note that this is an administrative stay, which, again, is only a temporary stay while the court decides whether it will grant the motion for rehearing en banc. Given the makeup of the court (Democrat appointees outnumber Republican appointees) and given the penchant the judiciary has been exhibiting for gumming up the administration's efforts to reduce the federal government workforce and expenditures, one assumes the court will grant the motion for rehearing en banc.

They may well reverse the panel, too, although they will need to bear in mind the guidance provided by the Supreme Court in Department of Education v. California in early April, which stayed a district court's temporary restraining order regarding various education-related grants, reasoning that "the Tucker Act grants the Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction over suits based on 'any express or implied contract with the United States.'” The panel that issued Saturday's stay relied on that rationale in doing so.

Judges Katsas and Rao filed a dissenting opinion as to the administrative stay issued by the full court on Wednesday, pointing out that the stay, "effectively requires the government to pay out over $25 million in disputed grants." That's money the government likely won't be able to recover and, again, over matters that rightly belong in the Court of Claims, not before a district court.

We'll, of course, continue to follow the saga and report on any new developments.

Editor's Note: Partisan federal judges are hijacking President Trump's agenda and insulting the will of the people

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