WASHINGTON (AP) Chief Justice John Roberts is pushing back against President Donald Trump for his description of a judge who ruled against Trumps migrant asylum policy as an Obama judge.
Its the first time the Republican-appointed leader of the federal judiciary has offered even a hint of criticism of Trump, who has previously blasted federal judges who ruled against him.
Roberts said Wednesday the U.S. doesnt have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. He commented in a statement released by the Supreme Court after a query by The Associated Press.
Roberts said on the day before Thanksgiving that an independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.
Last year, the president used the term a so-called judge after the first federal ruling against his travel ban. During the presidential campaign, Trump criticized Roberts himself for the chief justices decisive vote in 2012 to preserve the Obama health care overhaul.
The presidents latest remarks come as the Supreme Court is enmeshed in controversy over his appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Several justices have spoken out about judicial independence and the danger of having the court viewed as a political institution that is divided between five conservative Republicans and four liberal Democrats. Roberts is widely seen as the justice closest to the middle and likely to determine the outcome of high-profile cases that split the court.
Trump had spoken Tuesday when a reporter asked for his reaction to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco that put the administrations asylum policy on hold.
The president went on to say about the asylum ruling: This was an Obama judge. And Ill tell you what, its not going to happen like this anymore.
But the initial travel ban ruling in 2017 was issued by U.S. District Judge James Robart, an appointee of President George W. Bush. Roberts also was appointed by Bush.
It was unclear what Trump meant when he said things would change.
