Tensions flared between Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) during a Wednesday hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The session, titled “Rule by District Judges II: Exploring Legislative Solutions to the Bipartisan Problem of Universal Injunctions,” focused on the growing trend of federal district court judges issuing nationwide injunctions to block President Donald Trump from carrying out his agenda.
Cruz did not hold back when it was his turn to speak. “Democrats today hate democracy. They’re angry at the voters for re-electing Donald Trump,” he said. “And they’ve engaged in lawfare to stop democracy from operating.”
“Now that their efforts to indict President Trump and stop the voters from re-electing him have failed, they are going and seeking out individual radical judges to try to shut down policies and they are forum shopping like crazy.”
“Give me any loon judge put on the bench by Obama or Biden who disagrees with a policy. We just saw a judge flagrantly ignore U.S. immigration law concerning TPS being revoked. …”
Cruz explained, “U.S. law explicitly says there is no judicial review for that, but hey, they [Democrats] found a judge that says ‘Hey, you know what. We the Democrat Party, we are the party of illegal aliens. We are the party of murderers and rapists and gang members and the Democrat Party exists here to fight to keep murderers and rapists and gang members in your communities.”
“There’s a reason the Democrat party is at 26% approval nationwide because they put radical policies ahead of rule of law,” he added.
“Nationwide injunctions are an abuse of power,” Cruz emphasized. “It is the judiciary acting as policy deciders and it’s incumbent on this committee and this body to rein in the abuse of power from these unelected radical judges who are trying to overturn the election because they disagree with what the voters decided.”
Understandably, Cruz’s rhetoric did not sit well with Klobuchar who began by saying, “Okay, that was a lot. … We love the democracy, and I believe what we should be having is a civil debate on how we can best — if Donald Trump wants to make changes to the government, we should be doing it in a legal way, not how he’s doing it.”
“And the only reason there’s all these injunctions, Sen. Cruz, is because he’s violating the Constitution. Why would Trump-appointed judges —”
Cruz interrupted to ask, “Why don’t you file them in red districts? Why are the Democrat attorney generals seeking out left-wing loons?”
The senators briefly began talking all at once. After Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL), who was moderating the hearing, restored order, Cruz reminded her that “we have debates on this committee.”
“It’s so exciting to be following Sen. Cruz once again,” Klobuchar said sarcastically. “I will be taking more of my time since he is taking more of his time to yell at me.”
She continued, “I am making the strong case that the reason all these cases have been filed … is because this is not legal.”
Klobuchar attempted to argue that the judges issuing nationwide injunctions had been appointed by a range of presidents—including Ronald Reagan, both Bushes, and even Donald Trump. In reality, however, the majority of these judges were appointed by Democratic presidents.
She then referenced a Truth Social post in which Trump shared an image of himself wearing a crown, captioned “Long live the king!” That led to her well-rehearsed punchline: “The issue is that we do not live in a kingdom, and Elon Musk is not his court jester. … No one is above the law.”
Klobuchar went on to recite an unconvincing litany of familiar Democratic talking points, during which Cruz quietly exited the room. Who can blame him?
She also claimed that Republican rhetoric had contributed to threats against judges who issued the injunctions. Yet, when conservative Supreme Court justices faced similar threats following the 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade, she insisted that Democrats acted swiftly to protect them. I don’t remember it happening quite that way, do you?
Mercifully, she concluded, “What he [Cruz] said was completely untrue in terms of Democrats and Republicans decrying violence. We didn’t just decry the violence. We actually did something about it. … I think that kind of language actually makes a situation worse when it’s not even true. But unfortunately, Sen. Cruz left, so he did not hear my response to what was a lie.”
On Tuesday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich testified at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on these activist judges. He summed up the situation perfectly in his opening statement. He said, “Fifteen District Judges effectively seized control of various Executive Branch duties in the first six weeks of the current presidency through nationwide injunctions. This is potentially a judicial coup d’etat. It clearly violates the Constitution and more than 200 years of American history.”
Of course, both Cruz and Gingrich are right. Klobuchar’s remarks were pure gaslighting—something we’ve come to expect from today’s Democratic Party. At this point, dishonesty isn’t just a tactic; it’s become the party’s brand.
Just as a pickle can never be a cucumber again, Democrats have become so steeped in deception over the past decade, it’s hard to imagine a path back to integrity.
And their cratering approval numbers show the American people are seeing it too.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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