A Biden-Installed Judge Bulldozes the White House with an ASL Mandate
In a striking display of judicial overreach, US District Judge Amir Ali—handpicked by President Biden—demanded yesterday that President Trump and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt provide live American Sign Language interpretation at every public press briefing. The order takes effect immediately.
Judge Ali’s 26-page decree asserts that deaf Americans suffer a “clear and present harm” when excluded from White House communications on war, the economy, healthcare and pandemics. He cites the Rehabilitation Act as authority to force compliance.
The court insisted “simultaneous and publicly accessible ASL interpretation by a qualified interpreter” is “readily feasible” for all briefings conducted by the President or Press Secretary. No concessions for vice presidential or first-lady events made the cut.
Plaintiffs Derrick Ford—a deaf American—and the National Association of the Deaf argued that closed captioning alone is insufficient. They rely on ASL as their primary language and lack full proficiency in spoken English, the judge noted matter-of-factly.
The Trump administration maintained that robust closed-caption services meet their obligations. Judge Ali flatly rejected that view, ordering the White House to file a status report by November 7 confirming full implementation.
Republicans applaud true accessibility for all citizens. But we draw the line at activist judges rewriting policy from the bench. The Constitution vests foreign policy and executive messaging squarely in the White House—not in lifetime-appointed jurists.
Congress should step in. A clear, bipartisan statute can enshrine ADA standards for executive communications, insulating essential services from capricious court edicts. That’s how you safeguard both inclusion and separation of powers.
The White House must comply. And Americans of all abilities deserve direct access to the nation’s most important news—without judicial grandstanding dictating every detail.
