A dozen federal judges across the political spectrum have spoken out against the Supreme Court’s handling of cases involving President Trump amid intense public scrutiny of lower court rulings.
The 12 judges spoke to NBC News on condition that they not be identified out of fear of retaliation, so it’s unclear who they are or where they located. NBC reported the slate includes judges “appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents, including Trump, and serving around the country.”
They pushed back on what they described as a pattern of emergency rulings from the conservative-leaning high court in response to lower court decisions on contentious cases involving the Trump administration. Three of the Supreme Court justices were picked by Trump during his first White House term.
Federal judges who spoke to NBC News said the Supreme Court should better explain its emergency rulings.
They told NBC News they fear that the Supreme Court’s handling of cases involving Trump has validated the president’s criticism of lower court judges.
“It is inexcusable,” one judge told NBC News. “They don’t have our backs.”
The Supreme Court’s press office didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Chief Justice John Roberts last year condemned elected officials who have tried to intimidate judges and have defied court rulings.
“Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed,” Roberts wrote in his 2024 year-end summary. “Public officials certainly have a right to criticize the work of the judiciary, but they should be mindful that intemperance in their statements when it comes to judges may prompt dangerous reactions by others.”
Roberts did not name any specific officials to whom he was referring.
Roberts also issued a rare public rebuke in 2018 of officials who have accused judges of political bias, arguing that the courts are not helmed by “Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.”
“What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them,” Roberts said in the statement released by the Supreme Court’s press office at the time. “That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
Federal judges presiding over some of the high-profile cases involving the Trump administration have spoken out against threats they’ve faced as tensions between the White House and judiciary continue to mount.
“We need a call to action in this country from our lawyers and from our judges to say, ‘Not in this country, not on our watch,'” U.S. District Judge John Coughenour of the Western District of Washington said during a virtual event in July.
Coughenour, who blocked Trump’s executive order to restrict birthright citizenship, recounted that law enforcement came to his home with weapons drawn in February after the local sheriff’s office received a fake call alleging that he had murdered his wife.
“It’s just been stunning to me how much damage has been done to the reputation of our judiciary because some political actors think that they can gain some advantage by attacking the independence of the judiciary and threatening the rule of law,” he said.
