Ideally, presidential politics wouldn’t interfere with the Supreme Court, justices would be impartial, and they would “call balls and strikes,” as Chief Justice John Roberts famously put it in his confirmation hearing, back in 2005.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” https://t.co/00I7NeyGXV
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) March 18, 2025
Things haven’t quite worked out that way, especially as the court has turned right over the years. Meanwhile, it’s not rare for supporters of Donald Trump, including Elon Musk, to demand the impeachment of any judge who goes against a Trump ruling. There has also been something of a MAGA backlash against Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Trump appointee who has occasionally ruled against Trump Administration objectives.
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Trump, for his part, has made noises about ignoring court orders, and more recently calling for a judge he dislikes to be impeached. But Chief Justice Roberts has now made a rare statement, pushing back on that sentiment.
When Trump called for a specific judge, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, to be impeached after he blocked the deportation of Venezuelan migrants, the Chief Justice issued an objection.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” Chief Justice Roberts said in a statement, per NBC News.
Trump had referred to Judge Boasberg as “a Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama.” Apparently unable to grasp the concept of judicial review, Trump went on to declare, in his Truth Social post, that the judge “didn’t WIN 2,750 to 525 Counties, HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING! I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY.”
Roberts, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, had ripped Trump during his first term, after the president had denounced someone as an “Obama judge.”
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them,” the chief justice said in 2018.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
