John Roberts issues rare statement to say attacks on judicial branch of government are not ‘appropriate’
US Chief Justice John Roberts said on Tuesday that Donald Trump’s threat to impeach federal judges was “not an appropriate response” to disagreements about their rulings.
“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. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
The rare public rebuke from the most senior justice on America’s highest court comes as Trump and his allies have repeatedly railed against federal judges who have ruled against his administration, escalating tensions between the presidency and its judiciary that risk tipping into a constitutional crisis.
The chief justice’s intervention came shortly after the president attacked a federal judge in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday morning, in apparent reference to a ruling blocking deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador without a hearing.
