Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that if the Trump administration did not follow court orders, people would be found in contempt, which “could mean going to jail.”
Host Dana Bash said, “You’ve also said that the courts, assuming that what you just described is not going to happen, the Republicans won’t stand up, the courts are the last line of defense. There are situations right now, CNN reported this week where the administration is defying court orders to get them to freeze federal funds for example, are we in a constitutional crisis?”
Klobuchar said, “We’re not quite there yet, because ultimately, when the final court order is made, the Trump administration is going to have to decide. And this isn’t just at the top, these are lower level people as well are they going to face contempt charges. In the past, in the last administration, they did follow the court orders and you do have voices in the United States Senate like Senator Thune, the leader, or people like Chuck Grassley, even Josh Hawley are saying that you have to follow the rule of law. But if they don’t, the court has inherent powers to find them in contempt, which, of course, could mean going to jail. I’m not surprised that the courts are stepping in. Of course, it’s Democratic attorney generals across the country that are bringing these cases, but they have basically said, no, Elon Musk cannot start rifling through the data of Americans that violates their privacy. No, you cannot take a agreement that was made between Democrats and Republicans to fund cancer research for kids and just stop that research in its tracks. That’s where you see the courts stepping up.”
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