If you remember your fourth grade American government lesson, you know that one of the selling points of having three branches of the federal government is that there’s a foundational system of checks and balances, such that if one branch makes a power play, there’s a co-equal branch ready to smack them down. Well, don’t tell that to Donald Trump. He sees his 2024 election victory as a coronation, and, in the past, when a federal judge even tried to slow down Trump’s shenanigans, one of his minions was right there, ready to throw a temper tantrum. But now the big guy is getting in on the action.
You’ll recall amongst the latest horrors, the Trump administration sold Venezuelan detainees to an El Salvadorian slave camp. They were accused of being gang members, many with little to no evidence of such, and rather than let the legal system adjudicate those accusations, the administration sent them to a human rights horror show.
In this process, the order of D.C.’s Chief District Judge Jeb Boasberg to not to carry out the deportations based on Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act was almost certainly violated. The Justice Department was called to defend the government’s actions but before the they could even do so, Donald Trump himself took to social media to call for Boasberg’s impeachment, calling him a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge,” and saying, “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!”
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) said he will move for Boasberg’s impeachment later this week, which will make him the third judge who has ruled against the administration and found articles of impeachment with their names on them for their troubles.
But because the president has weighed in this time, the Chief Justice made a statement, presented in its full milquetoast glory:
“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.”
That’s… underwhelming, but maybe a big move for a made man.
Shorter John Roberts statement:
And I’m not the only one unimpressed. Fix the Court’s Gabe Roth issued this statement in light of Chief Justice Roberts speaking up about impeachment threats against judges:
“Chief Justice Roberts’ statement makes an important point, but it’s a little rich coming from the guy that, by giving Donald Trump near-total immunity in a major decision last year, helped usher in the present era of lawlessness.
“At this critical juncture, efforts to bolster the judiciary can’t just be talk. The Chief Justice should be working with Congress to excise the U.S. Marshals Service, which carries out court orders, from under the thumb of the executive; to increase spending for judicial security in light of a barrage of not just impeachment threats but violent threats; and to authorize mandatory safety training for every federal judge.
“To the extent such actions are being taken at all (I’ve left a message with SCOTUS asking about that), they’re characteristically proceeding in secret, which is a shame, since the vast majority of the country believes in judicial independence and supports Roberts’ view that the Trump administration should let the legal process play out and not try to work the refs.”
Unless there’s a real, actionable response from the branches meant to check Donald Trump, it will only get worse — he’ll further consolidate power until resistance is truly futile.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
