The judicial branch has been behaving ‘erroneously,’ according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, after several judges have blocked various executive orders from President Donald Trump.
‘I would like to point out that the judges in this country are acting erroneously,’ Leavitt said in a Wednesday news briefing. ‘We have judges who are acting as partisan activists from the bench.’
On Saturday, Judge James Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order halting the Trump administration from deporting migrants allegedly part of the Tren de Aragua gang under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The law permits deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing.
However, flights carrying the migrants continued to El Salvador, and Leavitt said Sunday the order had ‘no lawful basis’ since Boasberg issued it after the flights departed from U.S. airspace.
Meanwhile, Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment in a social media post Tuesday, prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare statement condemning Trump’s remarks.
Specifically, Roberts said that ‘it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision’ for more than two centuries.
In response, Leavitt said Wednesday that the Supreme Court needs to ‘rein in’ judges who are behaving as ‘partisan activists’ and are ‘undermining’ the judicial branch, while also asserting that Trump does respect Roberts.
Efforts to oust Boasberg also have been launched in Congress. For example, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, unveiled an impeachment resolution against Boasberg on Tuesday, claiming that Boasberg was ‘guilty of high crimes’ in a post on social media.
‘It’s incredibly apparent that there is a concerted effort by the far left to judge shop, to pick judges who are clearly acting as partisan activists from the bench in an attempt to derail this president’s agenda,’ Leavitt said. ‘We will not allow that to happen.’
Leavitt said that while flights to deport illegal immigrants to El Salvador are currently not scheduled, the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign will continue as litigation continues on this case.
‘We don’t have any flights planned specifically, but we will continue with the mass deportations,’ Leavitt said. ‘And I would just like to point out that the judge in this case is essentially trying to say that the President doesn’t have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists…That is an egregious abuse of the bench.’
Boasberg has requested the Trump administration provide more details regarding the timing of the flights departing U.S. soil, when they left U.S. airspace, and when they landed in El Salvador, among other things. The Trump administration has until Thursday to respond.
Trump has signed more than 90 executive orders since returning to the White House in January, spurring more than 125 lawsuits against his administration. Additionally, the odds of impeaching a judge are slim, as it would require 67 senators to vote for a conviction. Currently, Republicans only have a majority of 53 lawmakers in the upper chamber.
Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in an interview Tuesday that he has never defied a court order — and wouldn’t — but that the judicial system is full of ‘crooked’ judges.
‘No, you can’t do that,’ Trump said about defying court orders. ‘However, we have bad judges. We have very bad judges. These are judges that shouldn’t be allowed. I think at a certain point, you have to look at what do you do when you have a rogue judge.’
Other recent legal losses for the Trump administration include U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes blocking Trump’s executive order to bar transgender individuals from serving in the military.
Reyes wrote in her 79-page opinion released Tuesday that the ban ‘is soaked in animus.’ The injunction takes effect on Friday, providing a window for the Trump administration to appeal the order.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
