Chief justice pushes back against calls to impeach judges who rule against Trump; judge finds Musk-led dismantling of USAID was likely unconstitutional

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement Tuesday rebuking President Donald Trump and his allies for calling to impeach judges who have ruled against the administration.

"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," Roberts said in a statement.

Trump allies have called for various judges to be impeached for blocking administration policies in the first months of his second term.

But Trump himself raised the stakes on Tuesday, when he called for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg after he blocked the deportation of Venezuelan migrants.

"This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!" Trump posted.

While a handful of federal judges have been removed from office in the past, it has been because of gross misconduct in office, such as taking bribes, not as a result of individual decisions they have made.

Federal judges have frequently intervened on Trump's agenda since he took office again in January and implemented a set of aggressive policies that raised several novel legal issues. That has angered the administration and the broader MAGA base, leading to increasingly frequent calls for impeachment and raising concerns within the judiciary.

Just last week, federal judges raised the alarm about security concerns and urged public officials to use caution when criticizing court rulings.

Roberts' statement is not the first time he has publicly clashed with Trump. In 2018, he criticized Trump for singling out an "Obama judge" who had ruled against the administration.

"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 the meantime, Roberts has on several occasions played key roles in various Trump dramas. He also presided over the first of two Trump impeachment trials in the Senate, each of which led to acquittals, and in January, he handled Trump's swearing-in as president for the second time.

Although Roberts himself has cast a vote against Trump in various Supreme Court cases, he also authored the ruling last year that found Trump had broad criminal immunity for his actions contesting the 2020 election results.

Trump was caught on camera speaking to Roberts just after he gave his recent address to a joint session of Congress.

"Thank you again. Thank you again. Won’t forget it," Trump said. It was not clear what Trump was referring to, but some commentators speculated that he may have been talking about the immunity ruling.

The White House declined to comment on Roberts’ statement.

Elon Musk and DOGE efforts to close USAID likely unconstitutional, agency must be restored, judge rules

A federal judge ordered the government to reinstate U.S. Agency for International Development systems on Tuesday, ruling that the accelerated shutdown of the agency led by Elon Musk "likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways."

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang ordered Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to reinstate access to email, payment, security notification and other electronic systems for all USAID employees and contractors. He also ordered the department to provide written confirmation of compliance to the court within seven days.

"The court will require Defendants, within 14 days, to secure and submit a written agreement among all necessary parties that ensures that USAID will be able to reoccupy USAID headquarters at its original location, in the event of a final ruling in favor of Plaintiffs," the order said.

He also ordered DOGE and Musk not to take any action regarding USAID without the express authorization of a USAID official with legal authority to do so. Chuang wrote that the limitation was warranted as it appeared DOGE and Musk appeared "to have been primarily responsible for the rush to shut down USAID."

"DOGE has taken numerous actions without any apparent advanced approval by agency leadership,” Chuang said.

Musk commented on an X post that was critical of the news, suggesting it was a partisan ruling by a Democrat-appointed judge, writing “indeed."

The order states that the parties cannot terminate employees, place them on leave, close USAID buildings or terminate service contracts.

Musk, a tech billionaire and adviser to President Donald Trump, was placed in charge of DOGE by Trump after his inauguration in January. Weeks later, he announced in a post on X that they planned to shut down USAID.

Employees were placed on leave and ordered to stop work on projects across the world, leaving some government employees abandoned in foreign countries.

Nick Enrich, former acting assistant administrator for global health at USAID, said in a memo last month that the decision would no doubt cause "preventable death."

“All or nearly all of the awards needed to implement lifesaving humanitarian assistance were terminated on or before Feb 27th,” the memo obtained by NBC News said. “The number of deaths attributable to the loss of USAID funding and support is not known at this time.”

Enrich was placed on leave days after the memo was sent. (Source: NBC News)