The growing clash between President Donald Trump and the judiciary has taken a major turn as Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts delivered a rare rebuke after Trump called for the impeachment of a federal judge.
"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 on Tuesday. "The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose."
Trump on Tuesday called for the impeachment of a federal judge who tried to stop the Republican administration from deporting hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members via the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law last used during World War II.
Trump, in a social media post, referred to Chief US Judge James Boasberg in Washington DC, as "a troublemaker and agitator."
Unlike himself, Trump argued Boasberg did not win all seven battleground states in the 2024 White House election en route to an "OVERWHELMING MANDATE" that the president said was centered on his promise to fight illegal immigration.
"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 said in his post on Truth Social. "WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"
Independence of judges
Although rarely executed, Congress has the authority to impeach federal judges through the same process as other federal officials. The House of Representatives can impeach a judge with a simple majority, but votes from two-thirds of the Senate are required to convict the judge and remove them from office. Only 15 federal judges have ever been impeached and only eight have been convicted.
On Tuesday, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, introduced articles of impeachment against Boasberg, saying Congress "will not tolerate politicised judges unconstitutionally usurping the President’s authority."
The Justice Department has also asked the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to remove Boasberg from the case.
Before the change in administrations, Roberts warned in his December year-end report that the independence of the federal courts is under threat, including from attempts to intimidate judges and possible defiance of court orders.
"Public officials certainly have a right to criticize the work of the judiciary, but they should be mindful that intemperance in their statements when it comes to judges may prompt dangerous reactions by others," wrote Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee who became the 17th chief justice of the United States upon his Senate confirmation in 2005.
What public officials don’t have the right to do, he said, is defy court opinions.
"Within the past few years, however, elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings," Roberts said, without giving examples.
Roberts has criticised Democrats, too.
In 2020, Roberts criticised comments Sen. Chuck Schumer, made at a rally outside the Supreme Court when the justices were considering a high-profile abortion case.
Schumer said justices had "released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price."
Roberts called the comments "inappropriate" and "dangerous."
In 2018, Roberts also spoke out after Trump characterised a federal judge who ruled against his administration as an "Obama judge."
"We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges," Roberts said in a statement. "What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them."
What led to Trump's call for impeachment?
Boasberg tried to temporarily block deportation flights on Saturday through oral and written orders after Trump cited the seldom-used 1798 Alien Enemies to remove nearly 300 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua from the United States.
But two deportation flights left Texas for Honduras and El Salvador despite the orders.
The 18th-century law allows the deportation of anyone from a designated enemy country who is not a naturalised citizen without providing the individual due process. Justice Department lawyers have refused the judge’s demand that they provide information about the flights.
White Houses press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday the Trump administration complied with the judge’s written order, arguing the Venezuelans were deported before it was released. But when pressed about a verbal order from the same judge that came earlier, Leavitt cited legal “questions” whether a verbal order carries the same weight as a written order.
Trump's border czar Tom Homan doubled down on the administration’s mass deportation campaign on Monday, saying he plans to continue the aggressive roundups and removals despite the court ruling.
"We're not stopping," Homan told Fox News in an interview. "I don't care what the judges think. I don't care what the left thinks. We're coming."
A Justice Department lawyer, Abhishek Kambli, told Boasberg his written order was not valid if it was issued after the flights had crossed into international territory. The Justice Department said the judge’s oral order was also unenforceable.
The administration has argued the Tren de Aragua gang members pose a national security threat.
But Boasberg, in his order, said the Alien Enemies Act does not "provide a basis for the president's proclamation given that the terms invasion, predatory incursion really relate to hostile acts perpetrated by any nation and commensurate to war."
