By Jenny Braddock, Politics Editor, Reluctantly
March 19, 2025
A rare flare of institutional backbone lit up the marble halls of D.C. today, as Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a statement rebuking President Trump’s increasingly unhinged campaign to impeach federal judges who rule against him.
It wasn’t fire. It wasn’t revolution. But it was something.
And in 2025, “something” counts for more than it should.
The Chief Justice’s statement came after Trump spent the last 48 hours foaming at the mouth over U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s ruling, which ordered the administration to stop using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants en masse. On Truth Social, Trump called Boasberg a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge” and “a troublemaker and agitator” — which, coming from him, is almost a compliment.
Ever since he was inaugurated on January 20, Trump has treated the judiciary less like a co-equal branch of government and more like a malfunctioning vending machine that refuses to spit out loyalty. His allies in Congress have floated open defiance of court orders, with one advisor reportedly telling Fox that “these judges should be grateful they still have jobs.”
Judge Boasberg, for his part, described the administration’s posture as one of near-total defiance, noting their attitude amounted to:
“We don’t care. We’ll do what we want.”
(Paraphrased from court commentary.)
And yet here we are — hoping the same John Roberts who gutted the Voting Rights Act, blessed a decade of gerrymandering, and wielded a scalpel against civil rights law might now be our last firewall against outright constitutional vandalism.
If John Roberts is the voice of reason now, maybe he’s not defending the court — maybe he’s just hedging his bets. A lifetime appointment doesn’t mean much if the house burns down.
Still, in a week where the administration floated mass deportations, trial-by-meme, and the nationalization of TikTok, we’ll take our wins where we can get them — even if it’s just a Supreme Court footnote saying: “Hey. Maybe don’t break the entire legal system before lunch.”
Filed from the echo chamber outside the judicial branch, where a typed statement from John Roberts qualifies as an act of resistance.
