The Trump White House appears to be headed for a constitutional crisis, signaling that it intends to push back against judicial rulings that stand in the way of its goals.
Since his election, Trump’s team has pushed back against traditional checks and balances on presidential power, taking direct control of arm’s-length regulatory agencies, using upcoming primary contests to exert influence in Congress, and getting rid of lawyers, auditors, and other senior officials who might insist on following the rule of law.
That leaves the courts as a crucial check on the presidency, but there is now tension around deportation flights that the White House has used to expel migrants it says are members of a Venezuelan criminal organization. Trump has invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law, to order them flown to a prison in El Salvador, denounced them as terrorists, and posted a video of their departure online.
Justice JamesE. Boasberg of the Federal District Court in Washington ordered flights be stopped while he considers a case contesting the validity of the act. The White House responded by carrying on with several flights, arguing that they were out of US airspace, and jurisdiction, by the time of the ruling. Trump and his allies called for Boasberg to be impeached and Trump denounced Boasberg as a “radical left lunatic.”
John G. Roberts Jr., chief justice of the Supreme Court, responded with an unusual statement rebuking Trump: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
Boasberg is demanding more information about the flights. Trump has said he will not defy the court's ruling, but administration lawyers have been notably non-cooperative with Boasberg’s requests.
"The president is clearly looking for excuses to ignore lawful judicial orders, but in doing so they are also challenging certain practices, including the use of nationwide injunctions by district courts that raise questions about the balance of power between the two co-equal branches of government,” says Eurasia Group’s US Director Jon Lieber.
“Ideally, Congress would step in and answer these questions, but that's not going to happen in the current environment, which means there is likely to be an accelerating showdown between a president who is pushing the boundaries of his authority and judges who are trying to restrain him."
