Chief Justice Roberts Rejects Trump’s Call for Judicial Impeachment
Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement Tuesday to push back against an alarming trend of President Donald Trump and his allies using impeachment threats against federal judges who have recently ruled against the government.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in a statement given to media outlets. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
Roberts’ statement came just hours after Trump called for impeaching Judge James Boasberg, a President Barack Obama appointee who over the weekend blocked the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport hundreds of people without due process.
“This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President,” Trump said in a post Tuesday morning.
Other Trump officials, including billionaire Elon Musk, have called for Boasberg to be impeached, while Republicans in the House have said they will file articles of impeachment against him.
Attorney General Pam Bondi in an official statement from the Department of Justice claimed the judge supported terrorism by issuing his order.
Roberts previously warned against political pressure on federal justices in his year end report last year, writing that “Public officials certainly have a right to criticize the work of the judiciary, but they should be mindful that intemperance in their statements when it comes to judges may prompt dangerous reactions by others.”
The Trump administration in recent days has increased pressure on federal judges, repeatedly calling some of their decisions unconstitutional and calling into question courts’ power of judicial review.
“You cannot have a low level district court judge filing an injunction to usurp the executive authority of the President,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week in response to judges’ rulings that blocked the firing of thousands of federal workers.