'Don't have a good poker face': Judge 'skeptical' of Trump admin's 'extraordinary' order

President Donald Trump's attempt to sue federal judges for not ruling in his favor isn't going well for him, reported The New York Times on Wednesday.

A federal judge hearing the case, Thomas Cullen, already seemed to be against the idea out of the gate, reported Alan Feuer, as he "said he had some reservations about the suit, making his remarks even before a lawyer for the Justice Department had the chance to offer any arguments on behalf of the administration."

“I don’t have a very good poker face,” Cullen said immediately. “And you probably picked up on the fact that I have some skepticism.”

Trump is suing every single federal judge in Maryland over their decision to block a temporary pause on deportations from the state — a highly unusual move with little to no legal precedent behind it. Under Trump's argument, the court's "judicial overreach" violated his rights as the executive and the rights of voters who elected his administration.

From the start, the judges responded with a scathing brief, tearing down his argument.

"It is an effort by one branch in its institutional capacity to sue another branch in its institutional capacity seeking what amounts to an advisory opinion unmoored from any specific case or controversy. The courts have confronted similar efforts by legislators to sue in their official capacity, and have routinely rejected them on nonjusticiability grounds," wrote the Maryland court in its response. "While the Executive enjoys the distinct power to sue in the name of the United States to enforce laws and ensure that they are faithfully executed, it does not enjoy any free-floating authority to sue a coordinate branch of government."

Cullen, who normally sits in Virginia, had to be brought in to preside over the case, as all the judges in Maryland are defendants to the suit.

Elizabeth Hedges, who was representing the DOJ in Trump's suit, argued, “This is an extraordinary standing order, and so we find ourselves in this position.”

Paul Clement, a former solicitor general representing the judges, did everything he could to flatten the DOJ's case.

"Mr. Clement ... warned of the 'nightmare scenarios' that could emerge if the lawsuit was allowed to move forward. He said there would be all kinds of thorny legal problems if, say, White House officials had to be deposed about why they had brought the lawsuit or the judges themselves were made to testify under oath about why they had issued the standing order."

Cullen has said he will rule on whether the case can move forward by Labor Day, almost certainly kicking off an appeal for either side.