Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare, though tepid, response Tuesday to President Trump’s call for the impeachment of a judge who handed down a ruling adverse to the administration.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” the statement, obtained by TPM, said. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
The Court added that the statement was issued “in response to inquiries.”
On Tuesday morning, Trump called for the impeachment of Chief Judge of the D.C. District Court James Boasberg, an Obama appointee.
“This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding: “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!”
The President’s allies have increasingly directed their ire toward Boasberg, who is overseeing a case challenging their use of the Alien Enemies Act to remove migrants to El Salvador, where they are being held. In a fiery hearing Monday, Baosberg interrogated DOJ attorneys on whether the administration had intentionally violated his Saturday order, in which he explicitly instructed federal authorities to halt flights out of the country and turn around any that had already left.
Trump allies have been ruminating about impeaching judges for months.
Elon Musk, one of Trump’s closest advisors, has, in particular, increasingly been calling for judges to be impeached.
Federal courts have proven to be the sole backstop to Trump’s powergrab, with Congress, particularly the Republicans who control both houses, unwilling to enforce any guardrails. Trump and Musk are increasingly recognizing the courts’ power, much to their chagrin. Trump’s second term, so far, has been near-solely dedicated to annihilating the other institutional blockades that thwarted him in his first term, including civil servants, independent agencies and other apolitical institutions.
This posture has prompted MAGA outrage at other judges too, namely Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who decided against the administration on a couple of fairly narrow cases. Far-right activists including Laura Loomer and Jack Posobiec called her a “DEI” judge, while Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, said she should resign so Trump can appoint someone even more amenable.
While Roberts’ statement is fairly lukewarm given the attacks it is responding to, it’s very rare for the justices to issue public statements, signaling some level of alarm from the Court.
