United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts finally spoke up on Tuesday to rebuke Republican President Donald Trump after he threatened a judge for ruling against the Trump administration's unconstitutional agenda.
On Tuesday morning, Trump took to Truth Social to rant about his latest court loss, targeting U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg with his vitriol, while not mentioning him by name.
The President—in the chaotic, grammatically inept style he's known for—wrote:
"This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President..."
Trump went on to toot his own horn:
"He didn’t WIN the popular VOTE (by a lot!), he didn’t WIN ALL SEVEN SWING STATES, he didn’t WIN 2,750 to 525 Counties, HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING!"
"I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY."
Trump then blamed Judge Boasberg for upholding the Constitution despite his own oath to do the same.
Trump also made certain to include a MAGA shout-out at the end.
"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!!!"
"WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY."
"MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
But Trump's latest targeting of a federal official—for doing their job correctly—was a step too far for Chief Justice Roberts.
In an official statement, Justice Roberts said:
"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."
Judge Boasberg on Saturday issued an order blocking deportation flights that Trump had ordered after invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as their justification.
Trump tried to invoke this law to circumvent Constitutional protections and existing immigration and asylum laws. The 18th century act has been used only three times since it was passed by Congress in 1798, and then only during congressionally declared wars: the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II.
The Alien Enemies Act grants "wartime authority" for the President to "detain or deport natives and citizens of an enemy nation." It permits the President to target immigrants without hearings and based solely on their country of birth or country of citizenship.
People weren't buying what Trump and his administration were selling.
@chefsilvia/Bluesky
But they weren't letting Roberts off the hook, either.
The Chief Justice was criticized for his past silence and for being complicit in Trump's misconduct.
@cajunblue/Bluesky
As the SCOTUS' Chief Justice, Roberts is the highest member of the Judiciary branch of the federal government, while Trump is the highest member of the Executive branch.
The two, along with Congress as the Legislative branch, are designed to provide checks and balances on each others' power—something the Trump administration seems acutely ignorant of.
The Constitution grants the House of Representatives the power to impeach—as Trump should know after being impeached twice during his first term. Impeachment requires a simple House majority, which Republicans could achieve with their control of that chamber.
Trump's MAGA minions in the House already filed articles of impeachment against two other judges because of their rulings in Trump-related lawsuits, and today Rep. Brandon Gill did the same against Boasberg. The Constitution requires "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" for a valid impeachment.
Bruised egos because someone didn't get their way don't qualify, but that won't stop Trump's congressional acolytes from trying anyway.
But, like Trump's presidential impeachments, conviction and removal from office require a trial and a two-thirds supermajority vote in the Senate, where the split is 53 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and two independents—Maine's Angus King and Vermont's Bernie Sanders—who caucus with the Democrats.
Garnering an impeachment conviction requires 67 Senators—something Trump's personal vendetta is unlikely to ever achieve.
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