Restoring the Republic: How the Courts are Standing Tall Amidst the Tempest

[AustinLiberator]

By David Crockett
Editor-in-Chief, The Austin Liberator

There’s a saying I heard once deep in the Texas hills: The law ain't a weapon for your favorites—it's a shield for us all. And by the grace of Providence and the wisdom of the Framers, the courts of these United States have begun to remember that.

In the first half of 2025, while the chattering classes on both coasts howl about authoritarianism and lament their fading grip on the levers of bureaucratic power, our judiciary—yes, even the High Court itself—has been quietly, forcefully, and righteously reaffirming the rule of law. Not for the left. Not for the right. But for the republic.

Let’s speak plainly. The Trump administration, round two, has not been met with applause from the editorial pages of New York or the faculty lounges of Cambridge. His detractors fume at every action, not because of what is done, but because of who is doing it. Yet that’s precisely why these judicial rulings matter so much. Because justice that only smiles on your side ain’t justice at all. It’s favoritism with a robe.

And so it is cause for celebration—not partisanship—that the courts have delivered no fewer than nine major rulings since January in favor of constitutional order, lawful executive action, and the dismantling of a bureaucracy that thought itself untouchable.

🔹 Consider the decision allowing the layoffs of thousands of redundant federal employees.

A Ninth Circuit panel tried to block it, clutching their pearls over “mass disruption.” But the Supreme Court stepped in, removed the block, and reminded us that the President—any President—has the right to manage the Executive Branch without waiting for the feelings of unelected clerks to settle.

🔹 Or the birthright citizenship challenge, now winding through the courts.

The administration’s argument is rooted not in racism, as the headlines claim, but in a rigorous reading of the Fourteenth Amendment. Whether one agrees or not, the fact that it’s being litigated with seriousness—without preemptive cancellation—is a sign of judicial maturity.

🔹 And how about the ruling restoring the authority to remove agency heads?

The D.C. Circuit rightly acknowledged that the President is not a ceremonial but a constitutional officer. The Executive cannot execute the law if it cannot control those tasked with doing it.

The same pattern holds in case after case:

• Access to Social Security data for rooting out fraud? ✅ Approved.

• Reasserting military readiness through personnel rules? ✅ Approved.

• Rescinding politically motivated reinstatements of Obama-era employees? ✅ Approved.

• Ending Temporary Protected Status when the emergency ends? ✅ Approved.

What we're seeing is a quiet counterrevolution—not of tanks or decrees, but of constitutional clarity. The Courts are not siding with Trump the man. They are siding with the President as an institution. With the Executive as intended by Article II. With the people who vote for change and expect that change not to be vetoed by bureaucratic inertia.

And perhaps most critically, they are siding with the idea that laws should mean the same thing no matter who sits in the Oval Office.

Make no mistake: this return to judicial sobriety was hard-won. For years, we witnessed courts bending themselves into pretzels to block, sabotage, and delay executive authority. But that worm has turned. And while the New York Times will write eulogies for the “deep state,” the rest of us will be too busy working, raising families, and thanking God that our country is getting back on course.

No President is above the law. But neither should he be beneath it—beaten and shackled by the whims of judges who think themselves tribunes of history. The law is not a partisan’s plaything. It is a covenant. And today, it seems, more judges remember that.

So stand tall, America. The Courts may not be perfect. But these days, they are wearing the Constitution well. And even if the robes are black, the decisions echo red, white, and blue.

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David Crockett is a constitutional law & tax attorney, political writer, and Editor-in-Chief of The Austin Liberator. He hails from a proud lineage of frontiersmen, freedom fighters, and firebrands—and writes in defense of law, liberty, and the American soul.