Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) this week joined Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in introducing the Judicial Relief Clarification Act of 2025 (JRCA). The bill would limit federal court orders to parties directly before the court – ending the practice of universal injunctions and clarifying the role of the judicial branch to decide the law in a non-partisan way.
Under this legislation, parties seeking nationwide relief would be required to file a class action lawsuit. The bill would amend the Administrative Procedure Act and the Declaratory Judgment Act to limit courts’ decisions to the parties before them, and make temporary restraining orders (TROs) immediately appealable.
“Judges are not policymakers – and they have not been elected by the American people to legislate,” said Lummis. “Our courts should not be a tool for far-left activists to obstruct every part of President Trump’s agenda. I’m pleased to introduce legislation with my colleagues to defend our Constitution and end judicial overreach.”
“For a number of years, but particularly in the last few months, we’ve increasingly seen sweeping orders from individual district judges that dictate national policy. Our Founders saw an important role for the judiciary, but the Constitution limits judges to exercising power over ‘cases’ or ‘controversies.’ Judges are not policymakers, and allowing them to assume this role is very dangerous,” Grassley said. “The Judicial Relief Clarification Act clarifies the scope of judicial power and resolves illegitimate judicial infringement upon the executive branch. It’s a commonsense bill that’s needed to provide long-term constitutional clarity and curb district courts’ growing tendency to overstep by issuing sweeping, nationwide orders.
The legislation is cosponsored by Sens. John Barrasso R-WY, Marsha Blackburn R-TN, Katie Britt R-AL, Ted Budd R-NC, Bill Cassidy R-LA, John Cornyn R-TX, Kevin Cramer R-ND, Ted Cruz R-TX, Steve Daines R-MT, Lindsey Graham R-SC, Bill Hagerty R-TN, Jim Justice R-WV, John Kennedy R-LA, Mike Lee R-UT, Roger Marshall R-KS, Ashley Moody R-FL, Bernie Moreno R-OH, Eric Schmitt R-MO, Thom Tillis R-NC, and Tommy Tuberville R-AL.