Key points:
- Chief Justice John Roberts criticized President Trump’s call for the impeachment of a federal judge.
- The judge had temporarily blocked deportations under Trump’s executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act.
- Roberts reaffirmed that judicial disagreements should be resolved through appellate review, not impeachment.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare public statement on Tuesday, rejecting President Donald Trump’s call to impeach a federal judge who temporarily halted deportations under a controversial executive order. The rebuke follows U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s ruling, which blocked the administration from deporting noncitizens alleged to be members of a Venezuelan gang.
Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, issued the order on March 15, preventing deportations under Trump’s executive action, which invoked the Alien Enemies Act—a law from 1798 that allows the president to detain or remove foreign nationals in times of war or invasion. Trump justified the order by stating that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was carrying out an “invasion or predatory incursion” into the United States.
Despite the ruling, news reports indicated that the Trump administration proceeded with deportations over the weekend, removing more than 200 noncitizens to El Salvador before Boasberg’s written order took effect. The judge held another hearing on March 17 to determine whether the administration had violated his order, but a Department of Justice attorney refused to provide details, citing “national security concerns.”
Trump responded on Truth Social, calling for Boasberg’s impeachment. In a statement released by the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office, Roberts firmly rejected the notion, stating, “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
This is not the first time Roberts has publicly pushed back against Trump. In 2018, after Trump dismissed a district judge as an “Obama judge,” Roberts asserted that “we do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.” Despite their past clashes, Roberts previously delivered a key ruling in Trump v. United States, strengthening executive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts.
The latest dispute underscores ongoing tensions between the judiciary and the executive branch over immigration enforcement and presidential authority. Reported by SCOTUSblog, Roberts’ statement serves as a firm defense of judicial independence amid escalating political pressure.
