Trump Pressures Two Progressive Supreme Court Justices to "Recuse Themselves from My Cases"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] U.S. President Donald Trump criticized two progressive federal Supreme Court justices on the 25th (local time), accusing them of biased and inappropriate behavior and urging them to recuse themselves from cases related to him or the current administration.

According to CNN and other outlets, during a press conference held on the same day while visiting India, President Trump pointed out that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who criticized the government's new public charge rule that tightens disadvantages for low-income immigrants, was "very inappropriate." He added, "It seems (Justice Sotomayor) is trying to shame people who hold different views."

President Trump also referred to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the oldest and a leading progressive justice on the Supreme Court, noting that she called him a "fraud" during the 2016 presidential election and that he had felt her bias since then. He said, "I don't know how they can avoid recusing themselves from cases involving Trump or Trump-related matters." This appears to imply that since the progressive justices hold prejudices against him, they should not preside over cases related to him.

The Trump administration introduced a new policy as part of its tough immigration stance, which allows denying visa issuance to public charge recipients who receive government welfare support. This raised concerns that low-income immigrants receiving national assistance could be adversely affected. In this regard, on the 21st, the federal Supreme Court accepted the administration's emergency petition by a 5-4 vote to halt a lower court's temporary suspension of the new policy's enforcement in Illinois. The Supreme Court had also ruled 5-4 at the end of last month to allow the policy's enforcement by denying a preliminary injunction request.

Justice Sotomayor dissented against the government's petition, stating, "The government has recently declared a series of emergencies demanding immediate attention, consuming limited legal resources, and struggling to maintain an unprecedented number of cases," and pointed out that the lower court had not conducted sufficient hearings.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.