US Chief Justice Roberts underscores defense of judiciary amid Trump's attacks

Source: Reuters

May 8, 2025 7:01 AM EDT Updated 3 hours ago


BUFFALO, May 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts underscored his defense of the American judiciary on Wednesday amid verbal attacks by President Donald Trump and his allies on judges who have impeded aspects of his sweeping agenda, again stating that impeachment is an inappropriate response to unfavorable rulings.

Trump, some fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk have advocated impeaching some of the judges who have issued decisions against the president's policies since he returned to office in January, a process in Congress that could lead to removal from the bench. "Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with decisions," Roberts said during remarks at a judicial event in Buffalo, New York.

Roberts, who leads the Supreme Court and its 6-3 conservative majority, did not mention Trump by name. But his comments echoed the rare rebuke issued by Roberts of the president in March after Trump called for the impeachment of a judge who had ordered his administration to halt the removal of Venezuelan migrants under a 1798 law called the Alien Enemies Act. Trump also labeled the judge a "Radical Left Lunatic."

The Supreme Court increasingly is being called upon to intervene in major legal disputes involving the president, whose aggressive agenda and flurry of executive orders often have been stymied by lower courts. Critics have accused the administration of defying lower court orders and even a Supreme Court ruling involving Trump's crackdown on immigration. Roberts on Wednesday indicated that the appeals process - not impeachment - is the proper way to deal with adverse rulings.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-chief-justice-roberts-underscores-defense-judiciary-amid-trumps-attacks-2025-05-08/