Why Is There a Push to Strip Courts of Power?

"Very few people know this, that the Congress can simply disenfranchise a court. They don't have to fire anybody or impeach them or go through that battle. All they have to do is say the Ninth Circuit doesn't exist anymore, and it's gone."
— James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family.

Jurisdiction stripping is about power. It is an attempt to pre-emptively dictate the results of a dispute that might otherwise come before the courts for resolution.

Recent attacks threaten to undermine judicial independence and disturb the delicate constitutional balance. Legislators have threatened to withhold or cut money the courts need to run properly in a vindictive attempt to punish courts for controversial decisions. There have also been threats to cut judges' salaries (which are, in relative terms, not very high compared with what judges could earn in the private sector). In addition, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed bills that would strip courts of the right (jurisdiction) to review certain cases. Luckily, the Senate has not - yet - risen to the bait and signed on to such legislation.

"When the courts make unconstitutional decisions, we should not enforce them. Federal courts have no army or navy. . The court can opine, decide, talk about, sing, whatever it wants to do. We're not saying they can't do that. At the end of the day, we're saying the court can't enforce its opinions."
—  Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind.