Chief Justice Roberts sounds alarm on dangerous rhetoric aimed at judges from politicians
"It becomes wrapped up in the political dispute that a judge who's doing his or her job is part of the problem," Roberts said in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Judicial Conference of the Fourth Circuit, a gathering of judges and lawyers.
"And the danger, of course, is somebody might pick up on that. And we have had, of course, serious threats of violence and murder of judges just simply for doing their work. So, I think the political people on both sides of the aisle need to keep that in mind."
Roberts didn't name anyone but appeared to be referencing President Donald Trump and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer when he said he'd felt compelled to speak out against rhetoric by Democrats and Republicans in the past.
Trump has criticized judges many times over the years, including calling for the impeachment of a judge who ruled against a deportation policy earlier this year, referring to him as "radical left" and a "lunatic."
Roberts responded at the time, saying, "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."
In 2020, Roberts condemned Schumer for saying that Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch would "pay the price" regarding an abortion rights case during Trump's first term.
"You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price," Schumer said at a rally outside the Supreme Court at the time. "You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."
Schumer later said he was referring to the political price he believed Senate Republicans would pay, but he said, "I shouldn't have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat. I never, never would do such a thing, and Leader McConnell knows that."
Roberts, at the time, said of Schumer, "Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter."
In April, an armed man who was arrested outside of Kavanaugh's home pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate the justice.
Roberts' remarks came after the Supreme Court issued the final decisions of its term, handing the Trump administration a win Friday by limiting judges' ability to block his agenda through court orders.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Government shutdown talk is starting early ahead of a difficult funding fight in Congress this fall
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's become tradition. Congressional leaders from both major political parties blame each other for a potential government shutdown as the budget year draws to a close. But this year, the posturing is starting extraordinarily early. The finger-pointing with more than two months to go in the fiscal year indicates the threat of a stoppage is more serious than usual as a Republican-controlled Congress seeks to make good on its policy priorities, often with no support from the other political party. Democratic leadership from both chambers and the two panels responsible for drafting spending bills met behind closed doors recently to discuss the strategy ahead. The leaders emerged demanding that Republicans work with them but were careful to avoid spelling out red lines if Republicans don't. 'We are for a bipartisan, bicameral bill. That's what always has been done,' said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. 'The onus is on the Republicans to help us make that happen.' On the Republican side, lawmakers describe the Democrats as itching for a shutdown. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Schumer had threatened a shutdown should Republicans pass a bill to roll back $9 billion in public broadcasting and foreign aid funds. Republicans subsequently passed those cuts. 'It was disturbing to see the Democratic leader implicitly threatening to shut down the government in his July 'Dear Colleague' letter, but I'm hopeful that he does not represent the views of Senate Democrats as a whole," Thune said. Where things stand on government funding The federal government is operating on a full-year continuing resolution that provided about $1.7 trillion in spending for defense and non-defense programs. The funding expires Sept. 30. President Donald Trump requested a comparable amount for the coming fiscal year, but the Republican proposed dramatically overhauling how that money is distributed to include more for defense and border security and significantly less for health, education, housing and foreign assistance. So far, the House has approved two of the 12 annual spending bills. The Senate has yet to approve any, but those bills that have advanced out of the Senate Appropriations Committee are enjoying bipartisan support while the House bills are generally advancing out of committee on party line votes. This week, the Senate is expected to consider the appropriations bill to fund military construction projects and the Department of Veterans Affairs, generally one of the easier spending bills to pass. One or two others could get added to the package. Congress got off to a late start on the funding process. Republicans prioritized Trump's tax and spending cut bill. Most lawmakers agree Congress will need to pass a stop-gap measure before Sept. 30 to avoid a shutdown and allow lawmakers more time to work on the full-year spending measures. The view from Democrats Democrats overwhelmingly opposed this year's funding bill that expires in two months. But in the end, Schumer and nine Democratic colleagues decided a government shutdown would be even worse. They voted to allow the bill to proceed and overcome a filibuster, giving Republicans the ability to pass it on their own on a final vote. Schumer took considerable heat from progressives for his strategy. House Democratic leadership issued a statement at the time saying 'House Democrats will not be complicit.' And members of his own caucus publicly expressed disagreement. 'If we pass this continuing resolution for the next half year, we will own what the president does,' said Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. 'I am not willing to take ownership of that.' Some liberal groups threatened to hold protests at various events Schumer was planning to promote a new book, and some of those events ended up being postponed due to security concerns. The Democratic frustrations have only grown stronger in the ensuing months. First, the Democrats watched the Trump administration slow-walk or block hundreds of billions of dollars from going out in part through the work of its Department of Government Efficiency. Then they watched as Republicans passed Trump's big tax and spending cut bill without any Democratic votes. Finally, they watched as Republicans this month canceled $9 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting funds when much of it had been previously agreed to on a bipartisan basis. Meanwhile, Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, declared that the appropriations process "has to be less bipartisan.' Democrats complain that much of the work taking place in the House has been a waste of time, since those partisan bills have no chance of getting 60 votes in the 100-member Senate. 'At this point in time, why have appropriations if they can just unilaterally through rescissions whack it all away?' said Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill. 'I think what you're seeing is more frustration than I've ever witnessed.' Republicans position for impasse Republicans control all the levers of power in Washington. That could make it harder to blame Democrats for a shutdown. But in the end, any bill will need some Democratic support to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. 'Our concern is that from their standpoint, they want to have a shutdown,' Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said of Democrats. '... The Democrats see it as a way to derail the agenda that we're putting through.' Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2-ranked Republican in the Senate, said Republicans were determined to hold votes on the 12 spending bills. He said that Schumer 'had unilaterally shut down the appropriations process' in previous years by not holding such votes, moving instead to negotiate directly with GOP leadership in the House and then-President Joe Biden's Democratic administration on an all-encompassing spending package. 'If Democrats walk away from this process again, simply to protect wasteful Washington spending," Barrasso said, 'they will be the ones sabotaging the Senate and shutting down the government.' ___ Follow the AP's coverage of Congress at Kevin Freking, The Associated Press Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
USA Today
18 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump's trade talks intensify with tariff deadline fast approaching
TACO or tariffs? An August 1 deadline looms after the European Union became the latest of the top US trading partners to reach a deal with Trump. WASHINGTON — With President Donald Trump's Aug. 1 tariff deadline fast approaching, countries whose exports are facing stiff fees have been in a scramble to ink trade deals with the United States that preserve as much access as possible to American markets. The European Union and its 27 member nation bloc became the latest of the United States' top trading partners to come to an agreement with Trump over the weekend, joining the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia in announcing deals during July. The United Kingdom and Vietnam have also reached agreements with Trump. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said this week that his country was in the "intense phase" of the complex negotiations, as it sought to avert a promised 35% tariff on imports that fall outside of an existing trade pact with the United States. More: Trump's trade deal with the EU: What it means for your wallet "There is a landing zone that's possible but we have to get there. We'll see what happens," Carney told reporters during a July 28 news conference. 'No more extensions,' Trump administration warns A baseline tariff of 10% is currently in place for most countries, some two dozen of which received letters from Trump this month informing them that higher rates are on the way. They include Brazil, which Trump says he'll hit with a 50% tariff, and India, which he said he'll apply a 26% rate to, as well as Canada, at 35%, and Mexico, which faces a 30% tariff. Mexico, Canada and EU are the the largest exporters of goods to the United States along with China, which is in separate trade talks with the Trump administration and faces a later deadline in August. First announced on April 2 by Trump in the Rose Garden, the implementation of the so-called 'reciprocal tariffs' were twice extended to stabilize the markets and give the president's team more time to conduct negotiations. The constant deadline shifting has given birth to an acronym: TACO, for Trump Always Chickens Out, mocking the second-term president's on-again-off-again tariff policies. More: Trump threatens 35% tariff for Canada amid flurry of letters threatening hikes But countries hoping for another reprieve won't be so fortunate, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on July 27. 'No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set, they'll go into place. Customs will start collecting the money, and off we go,' Lutnick said on 'Fox News Sunday.' EU latest to strike trade deal with Trump Just ahead of the deadline, on July 27, the European Union struck a deal with Trump. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump finalized the agreement in person while the U.S. president was in Scotland. The deal includes a 15% tariff on most European exports to the United States, a reduction from the 30% Trump threatened to impose earlier in July. 'We just had a very big trade deal, the biggest of them all yesterday,' Trump said during a bilateral meeting in Scotland on July 28 with U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer at Trump Turnberry golf course. The agreement includes $600 billion in EU investments in the U.S. and the purchase of $750 billion worth of U.S. energy. Tariffs on steel and aluminum will remain at 50%. On July 22, Trump also announced a 'massive deal' with Japan under which the United States would impose a 15% tariff on Japanese imports. Trump had previously threatened a 24% tariff on Japan. He said Japan would invest $550 billion in the United States and America would receive 90% of the profits, without offering any details. Trump's announcement also said Japan had agreed to open its markets to imports of vehicles, rice and other agricultural products from the United States. The U.K. was the first country to reach a trade agreement with the United States in May. A reciprocal tariff of 10% remains in effect, in keeping with the baseline tariff rate. More: Trump considers 'rebates' to US taxpayers from tariff income Under the deal, the first 100,000 vehicles imported into the U.S. by U.K. car manufacturers each year are subject to the reciprocal rate of 10% and any additional vehicles each year are subject to 25% rates, the White House says. The U.K is one of the only countries with whom the U.S. has a trade surplus. Trump has also announced deals with Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. 'We've made the big ones,' says Trump Pakistan's foreign minister said on July 25 after a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio that his country was "very close" to reaching a deal with the United States and one could emerge in days. South Korean officials were also in Washington on July 25, for negotiations with Lutnick and other Trump administration officials. Trump signaled during his meeting with Starmer on July 28 that he'd landed most of the deals he expected to and his patience was waning for individual talks. "We're going to be setting a tariff for essentially the rest of the world and that's what they're going to pay if they want to do business in the United States. Because you can't sit down and make 200 deals," Trump declared. "But we've made the big ones." One of the last outstanding agreements of significance is an unfinished deal with China. After rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs that saw the U.S. hike fees on imports to 145% and China put tariffs of 125% on U.S. goods, the nations two called a truce in May, agreeing to a 90-day suspension of the levies. Negotiators from both countries met in Stockholm on July 28 for another round of discussions, with the clock ticking toward the Aug. 12 expiration of the temporary truce between the top economies. "We have a good relationship with China, but China is tough," Trump during his meeting with Starmer in Scotland.
The Hill
18 minutes ago
- The Hill
Government shutdown talk is starting early ahead of a difficult funding fight in Congress this fall
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's become tradition. Congressional leaders from both major political parties blame each other for a potential government shutdown as the budget year draws to a close. But this year, the posturing is starting extraordinarily early. The finger-pointing with more than two months to go in the fiscal year indicates the threat of a stoppage is more serious than usual as a Republican-controlled Congress seeks to make good on its policy priorities, often with no support from the other political party. Democratic leadership from both chambers and the two panels responsible for drafting spending bills met behind closed doors recently to discuss the strategy ahead. The leaders emerged demanding that Republicans work with them but were careful to avoid spelling out red lines if Republicans don't. 'We are for a bipartisan, bicameral bill. That's what always has been done,' said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. 'The onus is on the Republicans to help us make that happen.' On the Republican side, lawmakers describe the Democrats as itching for a shutdown. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Schumer had threatened a shutdown should Republicans pass a bill to roll back $9 billion in public broadcasting and foreign aid funds. Republicans subsequently passed those cuts. 'It was disturbing to see the Democratic leader implicitly threatening to shut down the government in his July 'Dear Colleague' letter, but I'm hopeful that he does not represent the views of Senate Democrats as a whole,' Thune said. Where things stand on government funding The federal government is operating on a full-year continuing resolution that provided about $1.7 trillion in spending for defense and non-defense programs. The funding expires Sept. 30. President Donald Trump requested a comparable amount for the coming fiscal year, but the Republican proposed dramatically overhauling how that money is distributed to include more for defense and border security and significantly less for health, education, housing and foreign assistance. So far, the House has approved two of the 12 annual spending bills. The Senate has yet to approve any, but those bills that have advanced out of the Senate Appropriations Committee are enjoying bipartisan support while the House bills are generally advancing out of committee on party line votes. This week, the Senate is expected to consider the appropriations bill to fund military construction projects and the Department of Veterans Affairs, generally one of the easier spending bills to pass. One or two others could get added to the package. Congress got off to a late start on the funding process. Republicans prioritized Trump's tax and spending cut bill. Most lawmakers agree Congress will need to pass a stop-gap measure before Sept. 30 to avoid a shutdown and allow lawmakers more time to work on the full-year spending measures. The view from Democrats Democrats overwhelmingly opposed this year's funding bill that expires in two months. But in the end, Schumer and nine Democratic colleagues decided a government shutdown would be even worse. They voted to allow the bill to proceed and overcome a filibuster, giving Republicans the ability to pass it on their own on a final vote. Schumer took considerable heat from progressives for his strategy. House Democratic leadership issued a statement at the time saying 'House Democrats will not be complicit.' And members of his own caucus publicly expressed disagreement. 'If we pass this continuing resolution for the next half year, we will own what the president does,' said Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. 'I am not willing to take ownership of that.' Some liberal groups threatened to hold protests at various events Schumer was planning to promote a new book, and some of those events ended up being postponed due to security concerns. The Democratic frustrations have only grown stronger in the ensuing months. First, the Democrats watched the Trump administration slow-walk or block hundreds of billions of dollars from going out in part through the work of its Department of Government Efficiency. Then they watched as Republicans passed Trump's big tax and spending cut bill without any Democratic votes. Finally, they watched as Republicans this month canceled $9 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting funds when much of it had been previously agreed to on a bipartisan basis. Meanwhile, Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, declared that the appropriations process 'has to be less bipartisan.' Democrats complain that much of the work taking place in the House has been a waste of time, since those partisan bills have no chance of getting 60 votes in the 100-member Senate. 'At this point in time, why have appropriations if they can just unilaterally through rescissions whack it all away?' said Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill. 'I think what you're seeing is more frustration than I've ever witnessed.' Republicans position for impasse Republicans control all the levers of power in Washington. That could make it harder to blame Democrats for a shutdown. But in the end, any bill will need some Democratic support to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. 'Our concern is that from their standpoint, they want to have a shutdown,' Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said of Democrats. '… The Democrats see it as a way to derail the agenda that we're putting through.' Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2-ranked Republican in the Senate, said Republicans were determined to hold votes on the 12 spending bills. He said that Schumer 'had unilaterally shut down the appropriations process' in previous years by not holding such votes, moving instead to negotiate directly with GOP leadership in the House and then-President Joe Biden's Democratic administration on an all-encompassing spending package. 'If Democrats walk away from this process again, simply to protect wasteful Washington spending,' Barrasso said, 'they will be the ones sabotaging the Senate and shutting down the government.'
