US chief justice defends federal judiciary after Trump comments
US Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday strongly defended the federal judiciary a day after US President Donald Trump referred to a judge who ruled against his policy barring asylum for certain immigrants as an "Obama judge."
The remarks marked the first public response by Roberts to Trump over the Republican president's frequent criticism of the federal judiciary. Opponents of Trump have called his criticism of judges an attack on the rule of law in the United States.
"We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges," Roberts, a conservative who was appointed by Republican former President George W. Bush, said in a statement released by the Supreme Court in response to a news media inquiry.
"What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for," Roberts added.
It is unusual for a US chief justice, who presides over the nine-member US Supreme Court, to issue such a statement in response to a president. The US Constitution established the federal judiciary as a co-equal branch of government with the executive and legislative branches as part of a system of checks and balances on power.
