A group of federal judges is lashing out at the Supreme Court, accusing the justices of abandoning the lower courts by repeatedly siding with President Donald Trump’s administration through unexplained emergency rulings.
In interviews with NBC News, 12 sitting federal judges—appointed by presidents of both parties, including Trump himself—described a deepening crisis in the judiciary. They point to a growing pattern: when lower courts block controversial administration policies, Trump or his aides publicly denounce the judges, and soon after, the Supreme Court steps in to overturn those rulings, often without issuing a full opinion.
“It is inexcusable,” one judge said. “They don’t have our backs.”
Judges told NBC they have faced threats to their safety for rulings that cross the White House. After Judge James Boasberg blocked deportation flights to El Salvador, Trump demanded on social media that he be “IMPEACHED.” When federal courts struck down parts of Trump’s tariff agenda in March, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller branded it a “judicial coup.”
The rhetoric, some judges warned, is dangerous. One predicted that if attacks on the judiciary continue unchecked, “somebody is going to die.”
Another said the high court’s behavior makes it appear that “lower courts are being thrown under the bus.” A third told NBC the pattern of rulings suggests that “it’s almost like the Supreme Court is saying it is a ‘judicial coup.’”
Ten of the 12 judges NBC interviewed argued the Supreme Court should provide more explanation when overturning decisions on its so-called “shadow docket.” Emergency rulings without reasoning, they said, give the impression that district judges are incompetent or politically motivated.
Still, not all judges agreed. One Obama appointee acknowledged that some colleagues have let their disdain for Trump influence their rulings. “The whole ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ is a real issue,” the judge said. “Judges are mad at what Trump is doing or the manner he is going about things; they are sometimes forgetting to stay in their lane.”
But even that judge conceded there is a “strong sense in the judiciary” that the Supreme Court has left lower courts to take the brunt of political and public backlash. “They are partially right to feel the way they feel,” the judge said.
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“Still, not all judges agreed. One Obama appointee acknowledged that some colleagues have let their disdain for Trump influence their rulings. “The whole ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ is a real issue,” the judge said. “Judges are mad at what Trump is doing or the manner he is going about things; they are sometimes forgetting to stay in their lane.”
Exactly right from an Obama appointee for once. Many of these judges are exhibiting their TDS & their bitterness at the Biden/Harris loss by trying to stop The President from carrying out his mandate from the American people.