The Daily Fuckup

The Trump administration asked a federal judge in Washington on June 2 to keep a tariff injunction on hold while it appeals a ruling in a lawsuit brought by Learning Resources and hand2mind, two Illinois toy companies.

The Justice Department’s motion seeks a stay pending appeal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Rudolph Contreras had already granted the companies’ request for a preliminary injunction on May 29 and stayed its operation for 14 days, giving the government a short window before the order would take effect. The June 2 filing asks the court to extend that protection through the appeal.

Contreras also rejected the government’s bid to move the case to the Court of International Trade. In his opinion, he said the dispute turns on whether the emergency law the administration invoked allows the president to impose tariffs at all, not on ordinary customs administration.

The filing keeps the case moving on two fronts at once: the administration is trying to preserve the tariffs while it appeals, and it is still defending the district court’s authority to hear the challenge in the first place. For now, the district court’s injunction remains paused, but only temporarily.

The June 2 motion does not settle the legality of the tariffs. It does make the next step plain: the government wants the injunction frozen while the appeal runs its course, and the fight over both the merits and the forum is headed higher.