Sign-on Letter Opposing NORRA, H.R. 1526

View a PDF of the letter here.

April 7, 2025

United State House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative:

The 54 undersigned organizations write to express our strong opposition to H.R. 1526, the No Rogue Rulings Act (“NORRA”). If passed, NORRA would destabilize the checks and balances built into our constitutional system, putting the freedom of every American at risk.

NORRA would sharply limit federal district courts’ ability to do their jobs and issue nationwide injunctions against unlawful actions. By design, it would prevent federal district courts from effectively blocking illegal actions, including actions by this administration. But when an unlawful federal government action hurts people across the country, it is important to be able to take timely action to stop that action nationwide.

Although the bill would apply to actions of any president regardless of party, it is no coincidence that Donald Trump’s supporters are strongly pushing the bill now. President Trump is engaging in an aggressive, multi-faceted authoritarian assault on the pillars of our democracy. It is fundamental to our system of checks and balances that our federal courts are at the forefront of defending the very tenets of our democracy and they are responsible for holding strong against unconstitutional, unlawful, and increasingly autocratic actions to take away our freedom. The timing and false sense of urgency of this bill reveals the political motivations behind it.

Across the country, in a wide variety of contexts, district court judges nominated by presidents of both major political parties are doing their job. They are, at least temporarily, pausing illegal federal government actions while litigation proceeds. That is how courts are supposed to work.

Nationwide injunctions do not discriminate on the basis of party or ideology. Conservatives have sought and obtained nationwide injunctions against progressive administrations in the past, and vice-versa. Many of the signatories to this letter have strongly condemned or praised these judicial actions over the years, but we have done so on the basis of the legal issues in each case.

It is impossible to ignore the larger context in which NORRA is being pushed. Many of President Trump’s supporters believe he can simply ignore court orders he disagrees with. Indeed, many executive nominees have shamefully refused to say that Trump must obey court orders.[1]

In addition, there are other attacks on the courts, and individual judges themselves, for doing their jobs. Trump and his supporters are pushing to impeach district court judges who rule against Trump. Six judges have been targeted so far.[2] It is unacceptable that their judicial decisions are being cast as “high crimes and misdemeanors.” This frontal assault on the independence of our courts is part of the larger attack on our democracy and our freedom.

The framers of our Constitution established a judicial branch as part of the checks and balances essential to protecting our liberty. This brazenly political attempt to restrain and block our federal courts from doing their jobs in this manner must be rejected. We urge you to oppose NORRA.

People For the American Way
Accountable.US
AFT
Alliance for Justice
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Common Ground
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Center for Justice & Democracy
Center for Reproductive Rights
The Chamberlain Network
Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
Coalition on Human Needs
Consumer Federation of America
Court Accountability
Demand Justice
Demand Progress
DemCast USA
Democracy 21
Earthjustice Action
Feminist Majority Foundation
Free Speech for People
Government Accountability Project
Greenpeace USA
Human Rights Campaign
Indivisible
Just Solutions
Lambda Legal
Lawyers for Good Government
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
League of Conservation Voters
National Association of Consumer Advocates
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
National Consumer Law Center
National Council of Jewish Women
National Education Association
National Health Law Program
National LGBTQ+ Bar Association
National Women’s Law Center
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
People Power United
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Project On Government Oversight
Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK)
Public Citizen
SEIU
Social Security Works
Southern Poverty Law Center
Stand Up America
State Democracy Defenders Action
The Workers Circle

[1] Durbin, Judiciary Committee Democrats Vote Against Three Trump DOJ Nominees, March 13, 2025, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/dem/releases/durbin-judiciary-committee-democrats-vote-against-threetrump-doj-nonimees.

[2] Judge Amir Ali, District of Columbia, H.Res. 174. Judge John Bates, District of Columbia, H.Res. 157. Judge James Boasberg, District of Columbia, H.Res. 229. Judge Theodore Chuang, District of Maryland, H.Res. 246. Judge Adam Engelmeyer, Southern District of New York, H.Res. 143 and H.Res. 145. Judge John McConnell, District of Rhode Island, H.Res. 241.