The growing clash between President Donald Trump and the judiciary took a major turn Tuesday as Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked Trump’s call 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 rare public statement. “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 U.S. Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, as a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge” and “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.”
Trump responds to Roberts’ statement
Trump’s call for impeachment escalated his increasing attacks on federal district judges who have sided against his administration on several fronts, including its efforts to cut the federal workforce through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Trump officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have accused judges of trying to control the executive branch’s power.
Trump responded to Roberts’ statement in a Fox News interview aired Tuesday night. “Well, he didn’t mention my name in the statement. I just saw it quickly,” Trump said. “But many people have called for the impeachment of this judge. I don’t know who the judge is, but he’s radical left.”
Asked by Fox News’ Laura Ingraham whether he would defy a court order, Trump said: “No, you can’t do that. However, we have bad judges. We have very bad judges, and these are judges that shouldn’t be allowed.”
How are judges impeached?
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 ‒ making a conviction highly unlikely under the Senate’s current makeup with 47 Democratic senators. Only 15 federal judges have ever been impeached and only eight have been convicted.