In an extraordinary display of conflict between the executive and judiciary branches, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching federal judges shortly after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of a judge who ruled against his deportation plans. “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 statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” In a Tuesday morning social media post, Trump described U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg as an unelected “troublemaker and agitator.” Boasberg recently issued an order blocking deportation flights under wartime authorities from an 18th century law that Trump invoked to carry out his plans. “HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING! I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. “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!!!” Although Trump has routinely criticized judges, especially as they limit his efforts to expand presidential power, his latest post escalated his conflict with a judiciary that’s been one of the few restraints on his aggressive agenda. Impeachment is a rare step that is usually taken only in cases of grave ethical or criminal misconduct. He has routinely criticized judges, especially as they limit his efforts to expand presidential power and impose his sweeping agenda on the federal government. But his call for impeachment represents an intensifying confrontation between the judicial and executive branches. The relationship between Roberts and Trump has shifted through the years. Roberts rebuked Trump on judicial independence during his first term, taking issue with the president’s description of a judge who rejected his migrant asylum policy as an “Obama judge” in 2018. Roberts had a prominent role in the now-dismissed criminal case against Trump last year, writing the majority opinion that gave presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution and helped him avoid a criminal trial before the 2024 election. Roberts, meanwhile, continued to champion judicial independence, warning against threats from all sides and calling for even unpopular court decisions to be respected shortly before Trump began his second term. Trump greeted Roberts warmly earlier this month, thanking him and saying “I won’t forget” as the justices attended his address to a joint session of Congress. Trump said later he was thanking Roberts for swearing him into office. Trump’s latest statement comes after a court challenged of his invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. It has been used only three times before in U.S. history, all during congressionally declared wars. Trump issued a proclamation that the law was newly in effect due to what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. His administration is paying El Salvador to imprison alleged members of the gang. Boasberg, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, convened a hearing on Monday to discuss what he called “possible defiance” of his order after two deportation flights continued to El Salvador despite his verbal order that they be turned around to the U.S. Trump administration lawyers defended their actions, saying […]