I have written previously about Chief Justice John Roberts’ approach to the current problems within the federal court system. At that time, I suggested that Roberts was trying to give the DC Circuit Court an opportunity to correct its mistakes. Roberts issued an administrative stay on requiring the government to pay out $2 billion. Roberts suggested that the court needed to qualify its ruling better. This was a not so subtle hint to reexamine the case.
The court in question did not take the hint. In fact, they doubled down. The issues in question are clearly outside its jurisdiction. Other courts across the country took note and a blizzard of ridiculous rulings have been the result.
Chief Justice Roberts needs to lay down the law to all of these courts.
Kurt Schlichter, a highly experienced attorney, has written a very good article about this. I will excerpt some of it here because I think Schlichter explains well how Roberts is behaving foolishly. In doing so he is risking the respect and credibility of the federal judiciary.
Article III of our Constitution provides for the judicial branch, but it does not expressly provide the judiciary with any powers other than those it earns in the eyes of the other two branches. It cannot self-enforce its decrees. Article I creates the Congress, and the legislative branch has both the power of the purse and the power to impeach to check the judiciary. Article II establishes the presidency, but the Constitution does not specify its checks and balances over the court. That power is implied, and the implied power is for the executive – who runs the machinery of the federal government, including the cogs and gears that carry guns – to simply say “No” to an out-of-control judiciary. This implied power of defiance is as much a check and balance as any enumerated one, and without it, you would have an unchecked judiciary with hundreds of district court judges presuming to micromanage the legitimate actions of the executive branch.
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Judge Roberts’s problem is that he wants to return to something like regular order in the judiciary. What we have is highly irregular order. You non-lawyers need to understand that all these temporary restraining orders and injunctions and so forth are insane. This is not how law is done, either procedurally or substantively.
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John Roberts wants the normal appellate procedures to apply. … This was the main takeaway from his unbelievably tone-deaf response to Trump’s, Musk’s, and others’ frustration-driven talk about impeachment.
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In normal times, the response to a judge over one dumb decision is the appellate process. But these are not normal times. These are not one dumb decision. These are dozens of dumb decisions. And the answer here is not the appellate process because the appellate process is long, drawn out, and deliberate. The goal of this campaign is to use that delay to effectively strip Donald Trump of the ability to govern.
This is election interference because what is happening here is deliberate. This is an organized campaign to deny the public what they voted for. And it is very obvious that this is so.
Margot Cleveland has pointed out two cases in which Democratic plaintiff’s, having succeeded at the lower court level, have tried to get the lower courts to withdraw their actions when Trump has appealed. This is to prevent an adverse appellate ruling that they saw coming. Such decisions become precedent for future actions. This is patently an abuse of the judicial system.
So, what we have here is a court system that is being abused by the judges within that system. This is another example of the two-tiered system of justice in this country. And people are getting very tired of it.
Schlichter goes on.
Procedurally, [Roberts} needs to lead the charge to stop the imposition and use of these bizarre nationwide orders and injunctions by giving the circuit courts of appeal clear guidance to end this nonsense. Substantively, he needs to direct the circuit courts to issue stays on district court orders that far exceed the scope of the judiciary’s proper powers. And if the circuit courts of appeal refuse to do that, then the Supreme Court needs to issue the orders to enforce its will, even if that means issuing dozens and dozens of orders.
Why hasn’t Roberts done this already? There have been more nationwide injunctions and TRO’s in the first six weeks of this administration than there were during the entire Biden administration. Simply put because it is not in Roberts’ nature to act this way. Roberts is an institutionalist who believes in the normal order of things. He is hoping against hope that somehow things will return to normal. That is not going to happen. These rogue judges are there for a reason. And they will not stop until Roberts takes decisive action to end this insurrection. The question is not will he do so but rather is he capable of doing so?
The Agony Of John Roberts
The world can’t ignore what’s happening here in our country—it’s way too corrupt to just brush aside. And one very popular world leader is calling it out. President Bukele has completely flipped the Dems’ J6 narrative right back on them. Bukele has openly declared—for everyone to see—that a literal coup is happening right now in America. And it’s not coming from Trump supporters or patriots—it’s being led by the judiciary itself.
The U.S. is facing a judicial coup.
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 19, 2025
This is not how this country is supposed to work. Low-level judges are not supposed to call the shots. If that were the case, why even bother having a president? Might as well hand the country over to a bunch of radicals in black robes and let them run the show.