Firmly established in 1803 with Marbury v. Madison, the idea of judicial review has been essential to preserving American democracy.
That landmark Supreme Court decision established the power of the courts to examine the actions of the legislative, executive and administrative branches of government, determining whether those actions are consistent with the U.S. Constitution. It is the foundation of the checks and balances that prevent the United States from devolving into a monarchy.
As part of the decision, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” Government officials for hundreds of years have observed that power.
Certainly, a multi-layered judiciary with an adversarial process is preferable to a dictatorial decision about what is legal. But as President Donald Trump’s actions are consistently overturned or delayed by the courts, Republicans appear eager to tear down one of our nation’s foundational pillars.
Following one recent decision, Trump wrote on social media, “This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator . . . should be IMPEACHED!!!” The president was rebuked by Chief Justice John Roberts, but a Republican congressional representative from Texas filed articles of impeachment against the U.S. District judge. And a representative from Tennessee argued on CNN that the judge was “taking the side of a bunch of criminals.”
Actually, the judge delayed the deportation of suspects until due process could be carried out — a decision that adheres closely to the fifth and sixth amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Trump’s written attack upon a federal judge is nothing new. Since the start of his first campaign for president, he has often lobbed salvos at the judiciary.
This is a man, mind you, who has been convicted of 34 felonies relating to hush money paid to an adult actress. This also is a man who was ordered to pay $25 million for false promises related to the failed Trump University; has been held liable for sexual abuse and ordered to pay more than $80 million for defaming the victim; and has been ordered to pay $355 million for business fraud.
His frustration with the legal process — and his persistent criminality both as a private citizen and as president — is palpable. Now, he is making a habit of criticizing judges or threatening to ignore judicial rulings relating to his actions as president.
Conservatives like to claim that both parties have undermined judicial review. “Senate Democrats have repeatedly told the American people that the entire federal judiciary exists for no other reason than to fulfill their changing political whims,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in 2023. “. . . Democrats have signaled their open disdain for a body that refuses to interpret the Constitution through the lens of their party’s platform.”
But not even the most ardent Democrat has embraced Trump’s level of disdain for the judiciary. That contempt reflects a narcissistic, anti-American stance.
Federal judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate — a process spelled out in the Constitution. Cases are heard through an adversarial process that includes the possibility of appeals and could land an issue before the U.S. Supreme Court.
There are checks and there are balances, establishing a sturdiness that has served our nation well. Attacks upon the judiciary and rebukes of judicial review threaten that sturdiness and, indeed, our nation’s very existence.
