President Donald Trump still had the Supreme Court on his mind on Friday morning, the day after the high court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the administration’s attempted rescission of Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy ran afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act. The president said that the decision was neither a loss nor a win.
…ruling & request of yesterday. I have wanted to take care of DACA recipients better than the Do Nothing Democrats, but for two years they refused to negotiate – They have abandoned DACA. Based on the decision the Dems can’t make DACA citizens. They gained nothing! @DHSgov
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2020
Here’s what Trump said:
The Supreme Court asked us to resubmit on DACA, nothing was lost or won. They “punted”, much like in a football game (where hopefully they would stand for our great American Flag). We will be submitting enhanced papers shortly in order to properly fulfil the Supreme Court’s ruling & request of yesterday. I have wanted to take care of DACA recipients better than the Do Nothing Democrats, but for two years they refused to negotiate – They have abandoned DACA. Based on the decision the Dems can’t make DACA citizens. They gained nothing! @DHSgov
It certainly wasn’t a win when the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully went about repealing DACA. The president appears to have recognized this in a series of Thursday tweets:
Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn’t like me?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
…Religious Liberty, among many other things, are OVER and GONE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives. We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment & everything else. Vote Trump 2020!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
As President of the United States, I am asking for a legal solution on DACA, not a political one, consistent with the rule of law. The Supreme Court is not willing to give us one, so now we have to start this process all over again.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
…Based on decisions being rendered now, this list is more important than ever before (Second Amendment, Right to Life, Religous Liberty, etc.) – VOTE 2020!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
But—and it seems this is what Trump is saying—the decision wasn’t exactly a loss because the Supreme Court did not say the words: You can’t rescind DACA. Trump interpreted that as a “punt” on a politically charged issue.
Chief Justice John Roberts’s opinion arguably represents a roadmap for the Trump administration on how to successfully end DACA. The president said that his administration “will be submitting enhanced papers shortly in order to properly fulfil [sic] the Supreme Court’s ruling & request of yesterday.”
The question, at this point, is one of time and re-electability.
[Image via Doug Mills/The New York Times]
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