Is John Roberts Bending The Knee To Trump?

This note was updated on June 27 to reflect the Supreme Court’s ruling in the birthright citizenship cases.

Since January 20, President Donald Trump has issued an extraordinary 164 executive orders – including orders that are unconstitutional or violate our nation’s laws – leaving a trail of chaos, dysfunction, and danger in his wake.

Trump is governing by executive order, which gives him complete control and aligns with his autocratic instincts.

In the process, Trump has either ignored Congress and the judiciary or treated them as subservient, not as the coequal branches of government our Founders created. Trump acts as if he is accountable to no one.

The door to Trump’s king-like behavior was opened by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and the five other Republican-appointed Justices, who a year ago granted Trump and any other President immunity for “official acts.” President Trump, no doubt, believes everything he does is an “official act.”

This catastrophic, anti-democracy decision has fueled Trump’s out-of-control second term.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed challenging Trump’s executive orders and other Administration actions. At least 199 court rulings have at a minimum temporarily stopped Administration initiatives.

The judges who have ruled against the Administration were appointed by Democratic and Republican Presidents and span ideological backgrounds.

Trump and his Administration’s response has been to attack the judges. They have called for judges to be impeached, evaded or defied lower court orders, and disparaged the judges for having the gall to interfere with their actions.

The judges have responded by continuing to uphold the rule of law and the Constitution exactly as the Founders empowered them to do.

Last week, federal district Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, ruled that the Trump Administration has engaged in “palpably clear” discrimination in canceling NIH funding for research regarding racial minorities and LGBTQ+ Americans.

Young ordered the research money restored, writing, “I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable. I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.”

Young is just one example of the many lower court judges who are not cowed by Trump as they stand up for the nation’s laws.

So, the question is: Where in the world is Chief Justice Roberts as lower court judges are being attacked for their decisions?

With a few exceptions, the Chief Justice has been silent as Trump and his cronies attack.

While Roberts spoke up in March against calls to impeach judges who ruled against Trump – carefully avoiding mentioning Trump by name – he has failed to otherwise defend judges under attack or the co-equal branch of government he leads.

On Friday, June 27, in an issue presented in the birthright citizenship cases, Roberts and the Republican-appointed majority once again ruled for Trump, narrowing the ability of lower courts to issue nationwide injunctions. The Roberts Court majority, as it has done in the past, ignored the larger context of Trump’s ongoing assault on the Constitution and the rule of law.

Then there is the Supreme Court’s escalating use of its emergency docket to grant “emergency” consideration for the Administration’s requests.

The emergency docket differs from standard Court cases because it generally offers just limited briefing, no oral argument, and no opinion to explain the majority’s decision. This leaves Americans in the dark about the Court’s reasoning.

Today, it appears that the emergency docket is being overused to accommodate Trump.

The Supreme Court already has issued 14 emergency docket orders in requests filed by the Trump Administration this year, more than the total of eight emergency docket requests filed during the entire 16 years of the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations.

Most of the Court’s emergency rulings have been in favor of the Trump Administration.

This week, the Court majority used the emergency docket to lift a stay that temporarily blocked the Administration’s effort to deport noncitizens to South Sudan, a country they are not originally from.

Despite the Administration defying court rulings in the case, the Supreme Court majority condoned the Administration’s improper conduct by removing the stay without comment.

The Court majority has set a dangerous precedent which appears to give the Administration the thumbs up to ignore lower court decisions whenever it chooses.

Chief Justice Roberts is surely aware of the Trump Administration’s attacks on the rule of law and the reckless attacks on lower court judges. He simply has chosen not to respond.

Roberts has failed to publicly defend the co-equal judicial branch of government he leads or publicly support the judges under attack by Trump and his cronies.

The only conclusion to reach is that Chief Justice Roberts is bending the knee to President Trump.

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Fred’s Weekly Note appears on Thursdays in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s and other recent newsletters here. And, subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.