Judge Gorsuch Urges Lower Courts to Follow Supreme Court Rulings

On Thursday, Judge Neil Gorsuch urged lower courts to maintain consistency with the Supreme Court’s decisions, marking the third occasion in recent weeks where he felt patterns were being violated. This comes in light of the court permitting the Trump administration to continue cutting millions in NIH grants.

“Even if judges in lower courts may have personal disagreements with this court’s rulings, they must not disregard them,” Gorsuch stated in an opinion joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Earlier in April, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to proceed with halting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-related grants for teacher training. This move has been associated with shifting the narrative around gender ideology as well.

Still, a lower court had previously permitted cases related to similar NIH grants to proceed in June, indicating that judges were not only opposing but also bypassing prevailing majority opinions. The same court blocked the administration’s efforts to end DEI and gender-focused NIH grants.

Gorsuch emphasized that the principle of treating similar cases alike is fundamental to the legal system, arguing that lower courts should not invoke decisions from “persuasive authorities” or rely on differing conclusions by appellate courts on comparable issues.

He pointed out that the actions taken by the district court were not isolated incidents, referencing two other recent examples of lower court pushback. In July, a 7-2 ruling from the Supreme Court halted a district court’s attempt to defy an order that allowed the Trump administration to resume deportations from third countries. Interestingly, even Justice Elena Kagan, who had opposed the initial ruling, sided with conservatives in this enforcement action.

“It’s unclear how the district court intends to enforce compliance with this order,” she noted.

Moreover, the Supreme Court rejected another lower court’s ruling in July that sought to obstruct Trump’s intention to dismiss three Democrats from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Previously, the court had also allowed the president to take similar actions regarding agency commissioners in May.

In this context, the Supreme Court reiterated that the emergency filing was “inconclusive about merit,” but it would help guide fair discretion in similar cases going forward.

Gorsuch concluded that these interventions should have been unnecessary but underscored the essential principles of the judicial system. “Regardless of personal beliefs, judges must honor the hierarchy of the federal court system as established by the Constitution and Congress,” he wrote.