Trump is asking the Supreme Court to end birthright citizenship by arguing about something else

As it pushes to implement a plan to end birthright citizenship, the Trump administration is counting on an argument about out-of-control federal judges to prove irresistible to some Supreme Court conservatives.

As it pushes to implement a plan to end birthright citizenship, the Trump administration is counting on an argument about out-of-control federal judges to prove irresistible to some Supreme Court conservatives. Rather than waiting to ask the court to rule directly on the merits of birthright citizenship, which President Donald Trump is seeking to unwind, the administration used a series of emergency appeals Thursday to argue that lower courts are vastly exceeding their authority to block the White House’s agenda. In effect, it’s a strategy that could bring the same result – letting Trump at least temporarily upend more than a century of settled law that’s part of the fabric of American society. The use of sweeping, if temporary nationwide orders has “reached epidemic proportions since the start of the current administration,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris told the Supreme Court in the appeals. “This court should declare that enough is enough.” For now, the court doesn’t appear to be in any rush to resolve the cases. The three justices handling Trump’s appeals on Friday asked for a response from the groups challenging Trump by April 4, a far longer timeline than is usual on the court’s emergency docket. The birthright citizenship appeals made their way to the high court at a moment when judges are wrestling with a slew of controversial executive actions that seem designed to push the boundaries of the law. The Supreme Court has already twice declined to overturn lower courts that blocked Trump initiatives since January 20.