President Trump doubles down after Justice Roberts defends judiciary
President Trump denied he’ll defy a future court order after Chief Justice Roberts rebuked his calls to impeach a federal judge.
WASHINGTON – Hours after President Donald Trump called for the impeachment of a federal judge, Chief Justice John Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court suggested the president was defying a bedrock principle of American government.
“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,” Roberts said in a public statement.
Trump’s call to impeach Chief U.S. District James Boasberg, a lifetime appointee who’d ruled against one of his deportation policies in a D.C. federal court, marked a glaring escalation in his administration’s showdown with the courts, which have halted many of his recent initiatives.
Already, a series of judges have concluded that the Trump administration – which has issued a blistering array of executive orders while pushing forward on Trump’s mass deportation agenda – has likely violated the Constitution or federal laws in the process.
The administration has been ordered to halt the firing of federal workers, certain deportation flights, a ban on transgender troops serving in the military, and an array of other executive actions.
On Wednesday, Manhattan-based Judge Jesse Furman, an Obama appointee, rejected the administration’s bid to toss out Mahmoud Khalil’s challenge to his deportation. The administration is seeking to deport Khalil for his protest against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza while he was a Columbia student.
As an assortment of judges has ruled against Trump’s policies in these cases, some Trump officials and allies have not simply criticized the rulings but also attacked the court system and jurists.
“If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for president themselves,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said March 13, after California federal Judge William Alsup, a Clinton appointee, said the administration had sidestepped legal requirements and ordered it to rehire tens of thousands of workers.
Still, Tuesday marked a new threshold: the chief justice of the highest court in the land appeared to be directly rebuking the sitting president and implying that Trump – in calling for a judge’s impeachment – was targeting the American judicial system itself.
Only 15 federal judges have been impeached in U.S. history, starting in 1803. Eight were convicted and another three resigned before their impeachment proceedings concluded. Under the Constitution, a federal judge may only be impeached for treason, bribery, or other “high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
Trump did not explain in his social media post what Boasberg might have done to meet that standard.
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat and former constitutional law professor who led the House managers’ prosecution of Trump at his second impeachment hearing in 2021, suggested Trump’s call for the judge’s ouster was an attack on the judiciary’s independence.
Trump “is not calling for the impeachment of any judges who have ruled in his favor. So his rule is clear: either rule in Trump’s favor or face impeachment,” Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement Tuesday.
Trump and allies unfazed
While Trump did not target Roberts personally, he refused to back down from calling for the district judge’s impeachment during an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham later on Tuesday.
“We have very bad judges, and these are judges that shouldn’t be allowed,” Trump said. “I think at a certain point you have to start looking at what do you do when you have a rogue judge.”
Several Trump allies seemed similarly unfazed by the chief justice’s remarks, suggesting the Trump administration’s confrontation with members of the judiciary and the court system may only be beginning to heat up.
Elon Musk, who has led an effort by Trump to drastically reduce the federal government, appeared to mirror Roberts’ phrasing about the past two centuries of American history in a Wednesday post on X that continued the call for impeaching judges.
“For more than two centuries, there has never (been) such extreme abuse of the legal system by activists pretending to be judges. Impeach them,” Musk posted.
Longtime conservative Newt Gingrich echoed that sentiment.
“The Chief Justice can defend the Court by overruling bad judges before the Executive and Legislative Branches start acting against them,” the former Republican House speaker posted on X Tuesday. “The burden is on the Chief Justice not the President.”
‘I don’t care what the judges think’: Would Trump officials defy courts?
In his Tuesday interview with FOX News’ Laura Ingraham, Trump said he “never did defy a court order” and “you can’t do that.”
However, some Trump officials’ rhetoric has appeared to at least flirt with the idea of defying court orders.
“We’re not stopping,” Trump border czar Tom Homan said on “FOX & Friends” Monday, after court rulings pushed back against the administration’s deportation tactics, suggesting they sidestepped the law.
“I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the left thinks. We’re coming,” Homan said.
In another Monday interview, FOX News’ Jeanine Pirro asked Attorney General Pam Bondi if the administration may continue with deportation flights under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act after a judge issued a restraining order to block it.
“Absolutely. These are foreign terrorists – the president has identified them and designated them as such – and we will continue to follow the Alien Enemies Act,” Bondi said.
Debate over Roberts’ statement
Roberts has previously been accused of helping provide legal cover for Trump, particularly through the 2024 Supreme Court ruling he authored that shielded Trump – and potentially other past and future presidents – from criminal prosecution for various official acts while they’re in office.
But Roberts’ court has also repeatedly stood up to the Trump administration’s actions, and Tuesday wasn’t the first time Roberts spoke out against a political figure’s comments about the judiciary.
In 2020, Roberts said that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made “inappropriate” and “dangerous” comments when the senator said justices had “released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price.” Schumer made the comments as justices were hearing arguments in an abortion case.
Following his Tuesday statement, Roberts’ comments drew both criticism and praise.
“This is actually just another example of judges exceeding the boundaries of their role,” Harvard law professor Adrian Vermeule posted on X. Vermeule said Roberts was out of line for commenting outside of a court opinion on the impeachment power the Constitution reserves for Congress.
Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said on CNN’s “The Situation Room” that Roberts’ comments were appropriate.
“He’s trying to explain to the people of this country how the legal system works and how it doesn’t work,” Breyer said. “It doesn’t work by impeaching a judge because you don’t like his decision.”
Contributing: Maureen Groppe