John Roberts Touts Judicial Independence, Subtly Rebukes Trump in 'Year End Report' on Federal Courts
The chief justice hails the judiciary as “a counter-majoritarian check on the political branches.”
John Roberts Touts Judicial Independence, Subtly Rebukes Trump in 'Year End Report' on Federal Courts
The chief justice hails the judiciary as “a counter-majoritarian check on the political branches.”
Damon Root | 1.6.2026 7:00 AM
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Among his duties as chief justice of the United States, John Roberts is responsible for putting together an annual "Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary." This report sometimes amounts to a rather boring document, focused mostly on outlining the overall workings of the judicial branch.
Other times, the chief justice adds a little spice to the mix by referring or alluding to the legal controversies that actually comprise the most engaging parts of the judiciary's work. In preparing his 2025 report, which came out last week, Roberts went a little spicy.
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Roberts' report opens with a long ode to the connection between the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Here is a passage from that ode that jumped right out at me:
The connection between these two foundational documents could not be clearer when it comes to the judicial branch. The Declaration charged that George III "has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries." The Constitution corrected this flaw, granting life tenure and salary protection to safeguard the independence of federal judges and ensure their ability to serve as a counter-majoritarian check on the political branches. This arrangement, now in place for 236 years, has served the country well.
Roberts does not mention President Donald Trump by name in his 2025 report on the judiciary. Nevertheless, the words quoted above may be understood as a subtle rebuke of Trump, who spent much of the last year attacking the independence of the courts, such as by calling for the impeachment of federal judges whose rulings Trump did not like.
Notice also how Roberts describes the judiciary's role in our constitutional system: "a counter-majoritarian check on the political branches." Trump and his allies, of course, have spent much of the last year denouncing the unelected courts for thwarting the will of the voters who elected Trump.