President Trump’s signature second-term legislative agenda is hitting the courts.

His “big, beautiful bill” is a boon for Second Amendment groups that say it aids their quest to strike down a 91-year-old gun law requiring many Americans to register their firearms. Meanwhile, a judge already intervened to block one provision of the massive package, protecting Planned Parenthood from cuts.

It has shifted the Trump administration’s legal sagas from a tug-of-war between the judiciary and the executive to one involving the legislature.

The package’s top lines include key campaign promises such as tax breaks for overtime pay and tips and additional funding for immigration enforcement. But packed into the 887-page law is a key change for gun owners.

It zeroes the $200 tax the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) has imposed on the manufacturing and transfer of firearm silencers, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns.

The law has long been upheld under Congress’s taxing authority. So, gun rights groups wasted no time heading to court after Trump signed the bill on Independence Day, believing it dissolved the NFA’s constitutional foundation.

As The National Rifle Association put it, the megabill is the “biggest blow” yet to the NFA.

The gun industry wants a judge to end the NFA’s requirements, such as buyers providing fingerprints and passing a background check, for the now-untaxed firearms. Republicans had wanted to do so in the bill itself, but the Senate parliamentarian ruled reconciliation rules didn’t permit it.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to dismantle one of the most abusive federal gun control laws on the books,” Erich Pratt, senior vice president at Gun Owners of America, said in a statement.

“With the tax struck down by Congress, the rest of the NFA is standing on air. We’re ready to take this fight to the courts and finally end the federal registry once and for all,” he continued.

The groups filed their lawsuit in the San Angelo division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, where it was guaranteed to be assigned to U.S. District Judge Wes Hendrix, one of Trump’s appointees.

Meanwhile, a judge Monday issued the first known injunction against a provision of the Republicans’ reconciliation package, temporarily blocking Medicaid funding cuts to Planned Parenthood’s health centers.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s lightning-fast ruling — issued without explanation and before the government responded — sparked criticism from conservatives who see it as the latest instance of judges abusing their authority.

“We have the best judicial system in the world, but it’s run by fallible, mortal humans. People make mistakes,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote on the social platform X.

“But unless I’m missing something here, this wasn’t an honest mistake. This was a pretty egregious judicial usurpation of legislative power,” he continued, suggesting the House could try to impeach the judge.

Talwani’s ruling is temporary; the appointee of former President Obama is set to hold a July 21 hearing and then decide on whether to issue a longer injunction.

Trump called the law, signed July 4, a “triumph of democracy on the birthday of democracy.”

It extends tax cuts he signed into law in 2017, eliminates some taxes on tipped wages and increases the state and local tax deduction cap, in addition to cutting green energy incentives and providing $150 billion increases in immigration enforcement funding and defense spending each.

The Senate passed the bill 51-50, following a tiebreaking vote from Vice President Vance, while the House voted 218-214 in favor of the legislation.

A conservative commentator on Tuesday asked the president’s Cabinet whether it planned to challenge the “rogue judge” who ruled for Planned Parenthood and against a provision of the law. Attorney General Pam Bondi said “absolutely.”

“We’re on it,” Bondi said.

Originally published by Ella Lee for Yahoo News. Read the full story ›