Chief justice says impeaching judges "not an appropriate response" to disagreement, rebuking Trump
The chief justice's statement came after President Trump called for a federal judge to be impeached.
LEFT
9m ago"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 statement. Trump allies have called for various judges to be impeached for blocking administration policies in the first months of his second term. But Trump himself raised the stakes on Tuesday, when he called for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg after he blocked the deportation of Venezuelan migrants.
In an extraordinary display of conflict between the executive and judiciary branches, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching federal judges shortly after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of a judge who ruled against his deportation plans. “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 rare statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” In a Tuesday morning social media post, Trump described U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg as an unelected “troublemaker and agitator.” Boasberg recently issued an order blocking deportation flights under wartime authorities from an 18th century law that Trump invoked to carry out his plans.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts scolded President Trump Tuesday for demanding that a federal judge who blocked the swift deportation of Venezeulan gang members be impeached. In a rare direct response to a presidential statement, Roberts responded to Trump’s morning comments toward Chief DC US District Judge James Boasberg, saying: “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 reason,” the chief justice concluded. Trump, 78, went off on Boasberg after the judge ruled Saturday the president could not immediately invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport members of Tren de Aragua without any hearing — and ordered deportation flights already in the air to return to the US.