Chief Justice John Roberts says judiciary role is to ‘check the excesses’ of Congress, executive branch
“In our Constitution, judges and the judiciary is a co equal branch of government, separate from the others, with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law and strike down, obviously, acts of Congress or acts of of the President.”
May 8, 2025 minute read
In rare public remarks Wednesday evening, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said that judicial independence is “central” and impeachment of judges, which President Donald Trump has called for, is not how to express disagreement with a decision. The comments came at an event to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the US District Court for the Western District of New York.
Roberts said, “Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with a decision,” per the New York Times. US District Court Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo asked during the hourlong conversation in Buffalo for Roberts to explain his stance on judicial independence, to which Roberts said, “It’s central.”
“In our Constitution, judges and the judiciary is a co-equal branch of government, separate from the others, with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law and strike down, obviously, acts of Congress or acts of of the President, and that innovation doesn’t work if the judiciary is not independent. Its job is to obviously decide cases, but in the course of that, check the excesses of Congress or the executive, and that does require a degree of independence,” Roberts said.
This came after Roberts issued a statement in March, after Trump called for federal judge James Boasberg to be impeached over his ruling in the case of deporting Venezuelans to El Salvador.
Roberts wrote at the time, “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.” The statement came in response to Trump saying that “Radical Left Lunatic” Judge Boasberg should be impeached.
