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Chief Justice Roberts slams Trump's call for judge impeachment
Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized that impeachment is not a proper response to judicial disagreements, reaffirming the importance of judicial independence.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare public rebuke of President Donald Trump on Tuesday, criticizing the president’s call for the impeachment of a federal judge over an immigration-related ruling.
Roberts emphasized the importance of respecting judicial independence, stating that impeachment is not a proper remedy for disagreement with a court's decision.
"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 released by the Supreme Court. "The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose."
Roberts’ comments followed Trump’s call for the impeachment of Washington-based District Judge James Boasberg. On Saturday, Boasberg ordered the administration to halt the removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members, ruling against the president's use of a rarely invoked 18th-century law.
In a social media post, Trump lashed out at the judge, claiming he was undermining the will of the people.
"I’m just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do. This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!" Trump wrote.
At the center of the dispute is Trump’s March 15 invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The president argued that the law authorized his administration to bypass standard immigration procedures and deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a criminal gang he claimed had ties to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The Alien Enemies Act grants presidents the authority to deport non-citizens whose primary allegiance is to a foreign power, but only in times of war. It has been invoked only three times in American history: during the War of 1812, World War One and World War Two, when it was used to justify the mass internment of people of Japanese, German, and Italian descent.
The controversy began when a group of Venezuelan men in US immigration custody filed a lawsuit on March 15, seeking to block the deportations. They argued that Trump’s use of the 1798 law was unlawful because it applies only when the United States is at war or has been invaded by a "foreign nation or government"—neither of which is the case.
