From The Hill: A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the Justice Department’s lawsuit against all 15 federal district judges in Maryland over an order slowing down speedy deportation efforts, calling the administration’s attacks on the judiciary “unprecedented and unfortunate.”
U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen, an appointee of President Trump who sits on a federal court in Virginia, dismissed the lawsuit challenging a May standing order that automatically blocks the deportation of migrants in Maryland who file legal challenges over their detention for two business days.
The Trump administration had argued that the order, which was signed by the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, interferes with the executive branch’s powers and violate various rules.
“Fair enough, as far as it goes,” Cullen wrote. “If these arguments were made in the proper forum, they might well get some traction.”
But the judge explained that, instead of challenging the standing order through the proper channels, it chose a “different, and more confrontational, path entirely” by suing the entire Maryland bench.
In a 39-page opinion, Cullen also slammed the Trump administration for making negative comments against the judges, saying, “Although some tension between the coordinate branches of government is a hallmark of our constitutional system, this concerted effort by the Executive to smear and impugn individual judges who rule against it is both unprecedented and unfortunate.”
He lamented that federal district judges across the country have been described “as ‘left-wing,’ ‘liberal,’ ‘activists,’ ‘radical,’ ‘politically minded,’ ‘rogue,’ ‘unhinged,’ ‘outrageous, overzealous, [and] unconstitutional,’ ‘[c]rooked,’ and worse.”
However, Cullen added, “If the Executive truly believes that Defendants’ standing orders violate the law, it should avail itself of the tried-and-true recourse available to all federal litigants: It should appeal.”
BREAKING: Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, has DISMISSED the Trump administration’s lawsuit against every federal judge in Maryland over a standing order granting temporary stays in immigration cases. https://t.co/LTiTS39YZi pic.twitter.com/fS2jTXGsGk
— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) August 26, 2025
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