Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Rebukes Trump’s Call For Impeachment Of Federal Judge

On Tuesday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday criticized President Donald Trump for calling for the impeachment of a federal judge. This exchange highlighted the growing tensions between the president and the judiciary, as Trump’s broad claims of authority face increasing judicial challenges.

On Monday, Trump called for a judge to be impeached and asserted that a federal judge does not have the power to review his administration’s efforts to bypass due process rights in the deportation of individuals suspected of being gang members.

>WATCH: Trump Administration Deports 200 Venezuelan Gang Members To El Salvador

The core of the conflict lies in the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, an infrequently used wartime law that Trump cited to defend large-scale deportations, citing an “invasion” by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. His administration is providing financial support to El Salvador to detain suspected gang members.

In a recent post on Truth Social, Trump described U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg as an unelected “troublemaker and agitator.” Boasberg had issued an order blocking deportation flights that Trump was carrying out by invoking wartime authorities from the 18th-century law.

Judge Boasberg ordered the administration on Saturday to halt the removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members, which Trump has argued is authorized by the law which is historically used only in wartime. He directed the return of planes carrying hundreds of suspected gang members to El Salvador. However, the administration chose not to bring back two planes that were already en route, leading to accusations that Trump’s administration had ignored the court’s ruling, which Boasenberg referred to as a “possible defiance.”

Following Trump’s outburst, Chief Justice Roberts rejected the call for impeachment in a rare statement. While the chief justice did not directly mention Trump, the context made it clear who he was addressing.

“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,” Roberts wrote in a statement.