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US Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare public rebuke to Donald Trump over the president’s threat to impeach federal judges, saying such remarks were “not an appropriate response” to disagreements over their rulings.
The chief justice’s intervention came shortly after the president attacked a judge on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, in an apparent response to a ruling that had attempted to block deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
On Saturday, the Trump administration sent hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador under an executive order that invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to accelerate deportations.
The flights occurred despite a ruling by James Boasberg, a federal judge in the District of Columbia, ordering planes carrying individuals for deportation under the executive order be grounded or turned around.
“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump wrote on Tuesday.
“This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President — He didn’t WIN the popular VOTE (by a lot!),” he added.
The comments from Roberts, the most senior justice on America’s highest court, come as Trump and his allies have repeatedly criticised judges who have ruled against his administration.
The escalating tensions between the presidency and the judiciary have risked tipping into a constitutional crisis.
Federal judges have issued a number of temporary restraining orders against the Trump administration’s actions including deportations and sackings of government workers.
The White House has insisted that courts have gone too far in blocking the president’s actions, accusing them of “judicial activism”. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the chief justice’s statement.
The power to impeach and remove from office so-called Article III federal judges, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, sits with Congress. It is a power that has rarely been used.
Roberts had warned in his annual letter at the end of last year on emerging threats to judicial independence, saying public officials should refrain from using threats of impeachment to intimidate judges.
“Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed,” Roberts wrote. “Public officials certainly have a right to criticise 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.”
Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s second term agenda, condemned “radical rogue judges” in a post on X last week, claiming they “have no authority to administer the executive branch”.
On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the “administration acted within the confines of the law” in deporting the alleged gang members to El Salvador.
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