US Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked President Donald Trump on Tuesday for urging the impeachment of a federal judge, laying bare tensions between the country’s chief executive and the judiciary as Trump’s sweeping assertions of power run into judicial roadblocks.
In a rare statement, Roberts wrote: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”
He wrote the correct response was to file an appeal.
Roberts’ statement followed Trump’s call in a social media post on Tuesday for the impeachment of a federal judge. Washington-based US District Judge James Boasberg ordered the administration on Saturday to halt the removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members, which Trump has argued is authorized by an 18th-century law historically used only in wartime.
Tensions have been rising in the eight weeks since Trump returned to the White House with the president and his allies publicly criticising courts for blocking aspects of Trump’s agenda.
At a hearing, Judge Boasberg had ordered a halt to all deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, including turning around any planes already in transit. Two planes carrying hundreds of the alleged gang members were already in the air and were not returned, prompting accusations that Trump’s administration had defied the court order.
The Trump administration wrote that two flights had departed before the judge’s written order was issued and that spoken orders the judge had issued in court before the written notice hit the docket were not enforceable.
“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 wrote on Tuesday. Trump also called the judge a “Radical Left Lunatic.”
US Marshals have warned judges of heightened threats in recent weeks, as administration allies have ramped up efforts to discredit judges who block White House actions.
On social media, billionaire Elon Musk, a close Trump ally, and Republican lawmakers have described judges as threats to democracy. “The only way to restore the rule of the people in America is to impeach judges,” Musk wrote in one post.
