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Grassley Not Worried About Trump "So-Called Judge" Tweet

AMY MAYER/IPR FILE

Sen. Chuck Grassley says he’s not concerned about a tweet by President Donald Trump that called a federal judge in Seattle a “so-called judge.” The president was responding to a ruling by Judge James Robart that temporarily blocks the president’s executive order on immigration, a ruling Trump called “ridiculous” in that same tweet.

 

Some say Trump’s comment is an attack on the separation of powers. But Grassley, who heads the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, says he doesn’t worry about what the president says.

"We have three departments of government," says Grassley. "A judge can make almost any decisions they want because they have lifetime appointments. They're meant to be very independent, and you'd expect them to be independent and not act in a very political way."

Grassley adds that he believes Trump’s executive order is constitutional, and that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals would be “hard-pressed” to disagree with the president when it considers the Robart’s ruling today.