Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts called impeaching federal judges “not an appropriate response” to a disagreement over their rulings in a bombshell statement Tuesday.
Roberts spoke out hours after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of a federal judge who ruled against his deportations of suspected Venezuelan gang members under the auspices of a wartime law from 1798.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment from the Daily Beast on Roberts’ statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had called for the federal judge who blocked the deportations, James Boasberg—along with other federal judges who have restricted his power—to be impeached. He called Boasberg a “Radical Left Lunatic” and a “troublemaker and agitator.”
“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” he wrote in the post on Truth Social.
Despite unleashing a torrent of criticism toward judges who ruled against him, Trump had refrained from calling for their impeachment outright. DOGE head Elon Musk, however, has been calling for numerous judges to be removed for weeks.
It is rare for Roberts to issue a public statement, especially one that pushes back on the president.
The conflict is reminiscent of a 2018 spat between Trump and Roberts, when the chief justice rebuked the president for disparaging a judge who ruled against him as an “Obama judge.”
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” he said in a statement at the time. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
After delivering an address to Congress earlier this month, Trump was caught on a hot mic thanking Roberts and telling the justice that he “won’t forget it.”
While it wasn’t clear what Trump was thanking him for, many commentators pointed out that Roberts authored a Supreme Court decision that gave the president sweeping immunity from prosecution. The ruling helped Trump avoid facing legal retaliation for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump, however, said he was just thanking Roberts for swearing him in. Roberts was one of four of the court’s justices to attend Trump’s second Inauguration.
In between Trump’s post and Roberts’ scathing response, the president spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an autocrat who has seized control of his country’s judiciary.
Trump, who was discussing a possible diplomatic resolution to Russia’s war with Ukraine, has praised Putin as a strong-man leader.
On Tuesday, MAGA nation quickly fell in line behind Trump’s call for the judges' impeachment. Rep. Brandon Gill, one of Trump’s biggest supporters in the House, filed articles of impeachment against Boasberg. Meanwhile, Trump’s cries for impeachment were echoed by MAGA bigwigs such as Rep. Nancy Mace, the popular X account MAGA Voice, and far-right pundit Mike Cernovich.
Last week, Trump suggested that it should be “illegal” to criticize a judge. He was condemning press coverage that he says can unduly influence judges’ decisions.
When a reporter pointed out that Trump often criticizes judges and that Musk has been vocally urging their impeachment, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt fired back, “I have not heard the president talk about impeaching judges.”
The White House has asked Boasberg to dissolve his order against the deportations, while the Justice Department has so far refused to fulfill his request of detailed informations about the deportations.
During the first two months of his second term, Trump’s actions have tested the limits of a president’s power.
He has sought to eliminate birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the Constitution, but was shot down by no fewer than four federal judges. His attempts to dismantle federal agencies that have been established by a law have resulted in a slew of ongoing court battles.
Last week, a judge ordered that his administration had to hire back tens of thousands of probationary federal employees it had fired.
Trump, meanwhile, has signaled his belief that, as president, he has the power to overrule court decisions he disagrees with.
He sparked outcry in mid-February when he wrote in an X post, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”
The enigmatic statement appeared to be quoting a Hollywood version of french dictator Napoleon Bonaparte.
