Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project and a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, has publicly criticized Chief Justice John Roberts for allegedly failing to stop what he described as “judicial sabotage” against President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. Davis made the remarks during an interview on a podcast hosted by actor and comedian Joe Piscopo.
Davis referred to a recently filed lawsuit that targets Roberts in his role as head of the U.S. Judicial Conference, along with Robert J. Conrad, the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The lawsuit claims that both the Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office have taken regulatory actions that go beyond their constitutional authority. According to the complaint, these institutions are meant to focus on adjudicating cases and managing the administrative operations of the federal judiciary, not creating regulations that resemble executive branch functions.
Another key issue raised in the lawsuit involves transparency. The complaint argues that records maintained by the Judicial Conference should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The plaintiffs contend that if the judiciary is engaging in regulatory activities, then its records should be accessible to the public in the same way that records from executive branch agencies are.
During the podcast interview, Davis accused Roberts of not doing enough to control lower federal courts that have issued a record number of nationwide injunctions blocking Trump administration policies. He argued that these rulings interfere with the president’s constitutional powers under Article II, which outlines the authority of the executive branch.
Although Davis said he personally respects Roberts, he maintained that the chief justice has failed to fulfill his responsibility to restrain what he described as activist judges who, in his view, are undermining presidential authority through sweeping court orders.
