Conservatives Slam Roberts After Ruling To Uphold DACA Protections

UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 04: Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Elena Kagan, are seen during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in the House Chamber on Tuesday, February 4, 2020. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 04: Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Elena Kagan, are seen during President Donald Trumps State of the Union address in the House Chamber on Tuesday, February 4, 2020. (Photo ... UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 04: Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Elena Kagan, are seen during President Donald Trumps State of the Union address in the House Chamber on Tuesday, February 4, 2020. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Chief Justice John Roberts is facing backlash from conservatives following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on Thursday rejecting President Trump’s efforts to end DACA.

On Thursday morning, Roberts joined the court’s liberals in issuing a 5-4 ruling that rebuked Trump by rejecting his administration’s efforts to end legal protections for 650,000 young undocumented immigrants.

The President did not take the Supreme Court’s latest ruling lightly. Shortly after the order was issued, Trump ripped into the DACA decision as well as the court’s ruling earlier this week upholding workplace protections for LGBTQ individuals, tweeting that both rulings are “shotgun blasts” to people who are “proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives.”

Several prominent conservatives soon hopped on the bandwagon by taking particular aim at Roberts. Both the chief justice and Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch have faced backlash from conservatives following the landmark ruling for LGBTQ rights earlier this week, which included justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh issuing scathing dissents.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)

Cotton — a rising star in the Republican Party, especially following the uproar over his “Send In the Troops” op-ed in the New York Times earlier this month — reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision on DACA by mockingly suggesting that Roberts resign and travel to Iowa to get elected, according to CNN’s Manu Raju.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH)

Jordan tweeted that Roberts “does it again” following the court’s decision on DACA, warning that gun rights could be gutted next.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

On Thursday afternoon, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took to the Senate floor to accuse Roberts of “playing games.”

“Judging is not a game,” Cruz said. “It’s not supposed to be a game, but sadly over recent years more and more, Chief Justice Roberts has been playing games with the court to achieve the policy outcomes he desires.”

Carrie Severino, president of the conservative activist PAC Judicial Crisis Network

Severino ripped into Roberts in a series of tweets arguing that “this is a bad case of deja vu.”

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE)

Although he didn’t specifically call out Roberts, Sasse said in a statement that “this is what happens when you don’t have a functioning Congress.”

“We’re not doing our work so the Court again steps in and declares itself America’s Super-Legislature,” Sasse said. “It’s bad news for civic health that the Court regularly flexes legislative muscle it doesn’t have under our Constitution.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee member added that although he believes that immigrant children who came to the U.S.  years ago “shouldn’t live in fear of deportation,” he argued that the solution “should be done via legislation.”

“We need a law that gives us both border security and common sense immigration policy — and legislation comes from Congress, not the Court,” Sasse said.

Acting Deputy Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli

Cuccinelli also did not directly blast Roberts, but shared a sarcastic criticism in a Thursday afternoon tweet.

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