Former judges are disputing Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s comments when he said it’s time to declare war on activist judges as the administration fights in courts to defend President Trump’s agenda.
Keep Our Republic’s Article III Coalition, roughly 50 ex-federal judges appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents, released comments from some members who warn “war” rhetoric threatens the judiciary and rule of law.
“The notion of a ‘war’ on judges is not only inflammatory; it’s constitutionally damaging,” said former Judge Paul R. Michel, a Reagan appointee who retired from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
“Our judiciary exists to interpret the law impartially and check excesses of the other branches, not to advance partisan agendas. When public officials cast judges as enemies due to outcomes of rulings, they are undermining the very balance of power and judicial independence that protects all Americans.”
He was responding to Mr. Blanche, the Justice Department’s No. 2, who at the Federalist Society’s gathering last week told young lawyers they should support the administration’s battle against “activist judges,” as reported by Axios.
“We need you, because it is a war, and it’s something we will not win unless we keep on fighting,” Mr. Blanche said Friday, adding that DOJ attorneys are “bouncing around this country fighting these activist judges.”
The Trump administration has faced more than 500 lawsuits since Mr. Trump took office as advocates fight his agenda, hoping to get courts to issue injunctions halting his policies on everything from education to immigration to gender as well as downsizing the federal government, including federal firings.
The clash over rhetoric, though, comes when judges face physical threats, according to the American Bar Association.
The U.S. Marshals Service went from investigating 179 serious threats in 2019 to 457 in 2023.
