Opinion | John Roberts Is on a Collision Course With Trump

Alexander Hamilton saw it coming. In his federalist paper, he described the judiciary as a weak branch of the government and simply “overwhelming, w adored or influenced” by Congress and the President. Judges lack the means to enforce their ruling, he wrote, “the uncommon and unusual part of it,” he wrote.

If the judge feels the need now, it’s Secretary John Roberts. The legal challenges for President Trump’s constitutional crime invasion are growing. One case of purging the president’s government’s watchdog has already reached the Supreme Court. The judiciary could quickly occupy another person and weighed whether the president could end birthright citizenship for immigrant children. So that Supreme Court Justice Roberts is unquestionable, these fights bring one of the deepest tests his agency has ever faced. The Chief must find his fortitude.

For now, he seems to be training himself. His latest report on federal justice, published weeks before Trump took office, brought a colonial judge to his heel and “George brings brim with him in fear of violence, threats and rebellion.” It begins with a parable about the III. Jury. “This is partially interpreted as a Swipe with Vice President JD Vancewho is there? Selling ideas The judge has no business telling the president how to “control his government.”

If the Supreme Court judge intended a shot across the bow, Vance remains unhindered. He and the other Republicans – Laid eggs Elon Musk And right-wing legal theorist – delighted, he continues his conversation about defiance of the court. This includes the president. “He saves his country and doesn’t violate the law,” Trump recently posted on social media nodding to Napoleon, if not another dictator. A day later, he reposted the quote, proudly attached to a headline indicating that his administration had refused to comply with a district court order that had not frozen billions of federal grants.

These threats could be theaters and theaters for judiciary compliance. However, it is more likely that this is not the case. Trump is in the court Unpopular And no longer orders respect that protected it from attacks for a long time. According to a Marquette Law School poll, the majority of Americans believe politics, not law, drives most Supreme Court decisions. Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, a stately lifestyle of justice, were bankrolled by wealthy benefactors and revealed under obsession, eroded the respect the court once enjoyed. There was little protest when Trump was made the court malignant In the past, when he called justice “incompetent” and “silly,” he accused the court of sending a “shotgun explosion” of Republicans. He felt free to show judges, ju judges, lawyers, rule of law, and light emptying against the Constitution. The question isn’t whether Trump will rebel against the court, but how quickly and how far will it be reversed?

Despite court sympathy for some aspects of Trump’s agenda, clashes are coming. In recent years, along with congressional forces, Secretary Roberts and his conservative vast majority have crippled federal agencies, dismantled environmental regulations, weakened voter protection, stripped reproductive rights, and racial diversity. It’s making up for it. The attack on the “deep state” reflects the Supreme Court’s own sloppy towards the government.”Functional“He has a luxurious view of his enforcement. In 2020 opinion, he expanded the power of the president and fired civil servants for no reason. that decisionas Judge Elena Kagan wrote in opposition, “wiping away” the independence of the institution in question, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And now, Trump has followed this lead and is trying to wipe out the agency itself. He is effectively Shut down CFPBlocking staff and preparing to return funds to the Federal Reserve. When you put a man on the law, as the court did with the president last year In the case of immunity, he intends to act like he is beyond the law.