‘Some Of These Folks Really Are Hacks’: CNN Republican Hits Kagan For Flip On Nationwide Injunctions

CNN Republican commentator Scott Jennings took a swing at Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, pointing out how quickly she’d changed her tune on the topic of nationwide injunctions when the party in power had changed.

Jennings raised the point during a panel discussion on “CNN Newsnight” with host Abby Phillip, captioning a video of the exchange, “Does anyone remember Justice Kagan being against nationwide injunctions when we had a DEMOCRAT President? Pepperidge Farms remembers.”

WATCH:

Does anyone remember Justice Kagan being against nationwide injunctions when we had a DEMOCRAT President?

Pepperidge Farms remembers. pic.twitter.com/s31HUKrkNo

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) June 28, 2025

Phillip began the conversation by noting that both Democrats and Republicans had opposed the idea of nationwide injunctions — a tool used by lower courts to extend what would otherwise be limited rulings to apply across the entire country — mostly when they were being used by the opposition party to restrain an executive with whom they agreed.

“The nationwide injunction is officially dead and the court taking an opportunity here to do something that a lot of conservatives, perhaps, have wanted for a while. But, as we’ve discussed plenty of times, the nationwide injunction has been sort of the bane of the existence of Democrat and Republican presidents. It’s just that now this court has actually done it,” Phillip said.

Jennings, who has said on a number of occasions that the real “constitutional crisis” in play at present was a runaway judiciary bent on restraining President Donald Trump by any means necessary. “Yeah, they’ve finally done something about it. Friday was a great day for Donald Trump. The market ended at all-time highs. He’s breaking peace agreements in the Oval Office on a Friday afternoon. And then the court really clears the way for him to enact the agenda on which he ran.”

“I was trying to sort out my feelings on this matter, and I came up with a quote from a very smart lawyer, and I just want to quote it, because I think she was right when she said it. ‘It just can’t be right that one District Judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks,'” Jennings continued, pivoting to reveal his source: “Justice Elena Kagan in 2022 said that. Of course, when we had a democratic president. Now she voted against the decision on Friday. Just goes to show you that some of these folks really are hacks.”

“But as you correctly said, this has been the bane of existence of presidents and I’m glad they went ahead and fixed it because it’s not right that one of these individual district court judges can act like a king or a monarch and stop the elected president from acting,” Jennings concluded.

Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Clears Key Senate Hurdle

The GOP-led Senate narrowly advanced on Saturday night the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” championed by President Donald Trump.

By a 51-49 vote, the upper chamber passed a motion to proceed, ending an hours-long standoff on the legislation that features many of Trump’s spending and tax priorities.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) flipped from a “no” to a “yes” in the final moments as Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rick Scott (R-FL) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) cast their votes in support of pressing ahead.

All the Democrats, the independents who caucus with them, and Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) voted against the motion.

Vice President JD Vance had travelled to the U.S. Capitol to be a tiebreaker, but he was not ultimately needed to cast a vote.

While Senate Republicans are trying to meet Trump’s July 4 deadline to get the bill to his desk, Democrats are employing tactics that will slow down the process.

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After the procedural vote concluded on Saturday night, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) immediately asked for a reading of the legislation, which is more than 900 pages long and will likely take over 10 hours to get through.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) noted on X that further steps lie ahead.

“Remember: we still have to read the bill on the floor, hold up to 20 hrs of debate, and ‘vote-a-rama’ where we’ll wear the libs down on amendment votes. Then, House passage. Busy weekend,” he said.

The Republican-controlled House already passed a version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” a little more than a month ago, however the Senate has made some changes.

Ultimately both chambers will have to agree on a final version. Because the legislation is being considered through the reconciliation process, the Senate can bypass the filibuster and pass the measure with a simple majority.

Lee voted to move the bill forward after he announced the withdrawal of his provision to sell off public lands, which had irked some other GOP senators from Western states.

Earlier, Trump criticized Tillis after the North Carolina Republican voted against proceeding with the bill while objecting to Medicaid cuts. Trump later asked what is “wrong” with Paul, who has raised debt-related concerns about the bill.

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