Roberts is pushing back against President Donald Trump’s description of a judge who ruled against the administration’s new asylum policy as an “Obama judge.” It’s the first time that the leader of the federal judiciary has offered even a hint of criticism of Trump, who has previously blasted federal judges who ruled against him. But with Roberts’ court feeling the heat over the president’s appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Roberts and several of his colleagues have gone out of their way to rebut perceptions of the court as a political institution divided between five conservative Republicans and four liberal Democrats. Trump told reporters: “This was an Obama judge and I’ll tell you what, it’s not going to happen like this anymore…We will win that case in the Supreme Court of the United States.”

Said Roberts in a statement to the AP: “We do not have 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 a statement that was released by the Supreme Court after a query by The Associated Press. On the day before Thanksgiving, he concluded, “The independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”

Trump hit back from his resort home in Florida, questioning the independence of federal judges appointed by his predecessor and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He added that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which also previously blocked his executive order banning immigration from several Muslim-majority countries, was a “disgrace.” “Whatever the scope of the president’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar wrote in his opinion, according to recent reporting from the Inquisitr. A number of migrants remain in Tijuana after traveling in a caravan to reach the U.S.

Trump complained that his opponents file lawsuits in courts that are part of California’s liberal-leaning 9th Circuit. Denouncing the judge, Trump told a reporter that the administration loses every case which is filed in California’s 9th Circuit court. Trump went on the attack on Tuesday after the ruling was made, alleging that Tigar’s ruling was not impartial because he was an “Obama judge.”

Trump also berated the Ninth District Court, of which Tigar is a part of. “And I’ll tell you what, it’s not going to happen like this anymore.” The reference was to former US President Barack Obama.
Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts replies to President Donald Trump who described the judge who ruled on Monday against his migrant asylum order as an "Obama judge."