The Rule of the Courts

M. Akram Faizer

Board and Federal Trade Commission before expiration of their terms in office, notwithstanding prior precedent on the issue that dates back 90 years. 114 The Court’s failure to rein in the President has emboldened him to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors by attempting to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook and threaten to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell. 115 The Court then further emboldened presidential lawlessness when it refused to invalidate President Trump’s clearly illegal Executive Order purporting to end birthright citizenship for the children of unauthorized migrants and visitors. 116 In fact, the Court made things even worse by granting the President a political win by stripping the country’s 94 federal district courts of their power to issue universal injunctions to protect the rule of law. 117 Finally, and in a way that is both pernicious and potentially debilitating to the U.S. government, the Court recently refused to reinstate civil servants that were illegally fired without cause. 118 4. Judicial Review in Canada – From Umpiring Federalism to Protecting Individual Rights Canadian Confederation was achieved with passage of the British North America Act of 1867 (“BNAAct”) that formally created the Dominion of Canada as the first self-governing entity under the British Crown. 119 The

114 Trump v. Wilcox, 605 U.S.__ (2025). The most important prior decision on the issue is Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935). 115 Trump v. Cook, No. 25A312 (U.S. Supreme Court) (application for stay pending

argument Jan. 2026) (order deferring ruling). 116 Trump v. Casa, Inc., 606 U.S. __ (2025). 117 Id.

118 Trump v. American Federation of Government Employees, 606 U.S. __ (2025). 119 Parliament and Empire: British North America Act 1867, UK Parliament (last visited Dec. 24, 2025), https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/ legislativescrutiny/parliament-and-empire/collections1/parliament-and-canada/british north-america-act-1867/

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