Washington: In an extraordinary display of conflict between the executive and judiciary branches, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching federal judges shortly after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of a judge who ruled against his deportation plans.
“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 rare statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
In a Tuesday morning social media post, Trump described US District Judge James E. Boasberg as an unelected “troublemaker and agitator.” Boasberg recently issued an order blocking deportation flights under wartime authorities from an 18th century law that Trump invoked to carry out his plans.
“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 wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. “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’s post escalated his conflict with a judiciary that’s been one of the few restraints on his administration’s aggressive agenda.He has routinely criticised judges, especially as they limit his efforts to expand presidential power and impose his sweeping agenda on the federal government.
But his call for impeachment — a rare step that is usually taken only in cases of grave ethical or criminal misconduct — represents an intensifying clash between the judicial and executive branches.
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 has been used only three times before in US history, all during congressionally declared wars.