Retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Wednesday defended sitting Chief Justice John Roberts pushing back against President Trump‘s call to impeach a federal judge presiding over his mass deportation effort.
The former judge said his ex-colleague acted properly by issuing a brief statement underlining that impeachment is not the path to take when one disagrees with a judge’s ruling.
“He’s trying to explain to the people of this country how the legal system works and how it doesn’t work,” Breyer told CNN. “It doesn’t work by impeaching a judge because you don’t like his decision.”
“It says if you don’t like what the judge holds, appeal,” Breyer added.
Breyer, who stepped down from the high court in 2022, said Roberts struck just the right tone by avoiding mention of Trump, District Court Judge James Boasberg or the case in question.
Breyer avoided a direct answer when asked by host Wolf Blitzer if the nation is nearing a constitutional crisis over Trump’s actions.
“No one really knows. People have different views on that,” Breyer said. “The best thing for the judges is: you follow the law.”
Roberts issued the unusual statement Tuesday, hours after Trump called for Boasberg to be impeached over his handling of a case surrounding the White House’s effort to invoke an arcane law from 1798 to deport alleged hundreds of Venezuelan gang members without due process.
Trump derided Boasberg, who is the chief judge of the influential Washington D.C. circuit, as a “lunatic” who should not be allowed to second-guess his decisions as president.
The government resumed its feud with Boasberg Wednesday when it refused to comply with his order demanding details about the departure of planes carrying the deportees, which he says is part of an effort to determine whether the government defied his order temporarily blocking the flights.
Using unusually disrespectful language, prosecutors accused Boasberg of “continuing to beat a dead horse” and engaging in a “a picayune dispute over the micromanagement of immaterial factfinding.”
The Justice Department demanded the judge revoke his order, which called for the government to answer questions about the planes under seal, and warned it might “invoke the state secrets privilege” to avoid responding.
Boasberg responded by giving prosecutors till noon Thursday to comply or explain their rationale for refusing.
Trump officials say they plan to continue to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport anyone they suspect of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, along with other alleged criminals, claiming they are “invaders” and “at war” with the U.S.
The act has only ever been previously invoked during official wars declared by Congress — most recently World War II, when it was used against Japanese immigrants.