Federal judges rebuke Trump's Jan. 6 pardons and block DOJ expansion attempts

Multiple federal judges pushed back against the Trump administration's blanket pardons of January 6 defendants, with judges questioning the scope and legality of pardons for those convicted of violent offenses. Some judges declined to immediately dismiss pending cases, and courts blocked DOJ attempts to expand prosecutorial authority beyond what the pardon orders specified. Legal scholars called the judicial resistance a significant check on executive pardon power.