Two senior Republicans are asking Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to address anonymous comments from lower federal judges criticizing how the Supreme Court has handled Trump-related cases. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chairmen of the Senate and House judiciary committees, sent a letter Wednesday raising concerns about remarks reported by The New York Times and NBC News.
The news outlets cited unnamed federal judges who expressed frustration with the Supreme Court’s handling of emergency appeals tied to cases involving President Donald Trump, The Washington Times .
Grassley and Jordan described the reported comments as “inflammatory” and said they could potentially violate the judiciary’s code of conduct.
“We are deeply concerned that these public attacks on the court from sitting federal judges damage the public’s faith and confidence in our judicial system. When judges call into question the legitimacy of their own branch of government, they erode faith in the institution itself,” the lawmakers wrote.
According to the reports, some lower court judges said the Supreme Court has issued interim rulings on its emergency docket that benefited the Trump administration without providing detailed explanations.
NBC News reported that one judge said the Supreme Court was “effectively assisting the Trump administration in ‘undermining the lower courts.’”
The New York Times quoted a judge describing the relationship between district courts and the high court as a “war zone.”
The president has largely prevailed in early emergency rulings, with the Supreme Court lifting lower court orders that had blocked personnel actions and certain immigration
