One of President Donald Trump's most unexpected hurdles during his first 100 days is the constant bombardment of seemingly activist-level federal judges who seem all too ready to shoot down his policies as fast as he can roll them out.

Because of that, Trump, his supporters and his allies in Congress have increased their calls for the impeachment of judges who show a pattern of going against Trump on anything he tries to do. 

However, according to reports, Chief Justice John Roberts recently doubled down on his defense of the independence of the federal judiciary, and he isn't fond of the idea that judges should be impeached.

Roberts' somewhat surprising defense of the federal bench came via a fireside chat held earlier this week in Buffalo, New York.

What did he say?

Roberts, during his chat, emphasized the importance of the federal bench having complete independence and decision-making powers separate from the executive branch.

"In our constitution, the judiciary is a coequal branch of government, separate from the others, with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law and strike down acts of Congress or acts of the president,” he said. “And that innovation doesn’t work if the judiciary is not independent," Roberts said.

He added, "Its job is to, obviously, decide cases, but in the course of that, check the excesses of Congress or of the executive, and that does require a degree of independence."

His words seemed to be a continuation of what he said earlier this year in response to the Trump administration.

The outlet noted:

In March, Roberts issued a rare statement after President Donald Trump called for the impeachment of a federal judge who blocked the administration’s efforts to deport immigrants to El Salvador.

In response to Trump calling for the impeachment of the judges involved, Roberts wrote:

For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” he said in a statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

Social media response

Users across social media reacted to Roberts' take on the matter.

In a rare on-camera appearance on Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked Pres. Trump’s call to impeach a judge who ruled against his administration’s immigration policies. https://t.co/mpBvoxf3Se pic.twitter.com/gOJkVXl7BY

— ABC News (@ABC) May 8, 2025

"Roberts is compromised. He needs to be removed as well," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "Roberts is a lefty-loony."