President Donald Trump blamed the Federalist Society for the federal court ruling striking down his tariff agenda, attributing the decision to “bad advice” they gave him on judicial nominations.
One Trump appointee, Timothy M. Reif, sits on the three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of International Trade; Reif was appointed to the court by the president during his first term in 2019. The other two judges are Jane A. Restani, a Reagan appointee, and Gary S. Katzmann, an Obama appointee.
Trump said he was referred to the Federalist Society for judicial nominations and used them, but he also named Leonard Leo, the former vice president of the Federalist Society, branding him a “sleazebag.”
“I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real ‘sleazebag’ named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions,” he posted on Truth Social. “He openly brags how he controls Judges, and even Justices of the United States Supreme Court — I hope that is not so, and don’t believe it is! In any event, Leo left The Federalist Society to do his own ‘thing.’”
The Federalist Society is a conservative and libertarian legal group. The organization published an op-ed from an organization challenging the tariffs on Thursday but noted in an editor’s note that the group “takes no positions on particular legal and public policy matters.”
“I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations. This is something that cannot be forgotten!” he added.
Trump also said he is “very proud of many of our picks, but very disappointed in others” and called on the Supreme Court to overturn the federal court’s decision on the tariffs.
The federal court only temporarily struck down Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit paused the ruling at the administration’s request. The Supreme Court could see an appeal from the appeals court ruling.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier called Wednesday’s decision “judicial overreach.”
“The courts should have no role here,” she said. “There is a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges inserting themselves into the presidential decision-making process. America cannot function if President Trump, or any other president for that matter, has their sensitive diplomatic or trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges.”
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S TARIFF THREAT AGAINST MEXICO AND CANADA
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was “highly inappropriate” for the judiciary to weigh in when the Senate had already voted down a resolution aimed at ending the tariffs.
“It seems highly inappropriate for the judiciary to wade in here when the Senate had the opportunity to override the president and didn’t,” Bessent told Fox News, adding that the president should set the country’s trade agenda. “Anything the courts do to get in the way harms the American people in terms of trade and tariff revenue.”