U.S. President Donald Trump, next to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, arrives to deliver the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 24, 2026. REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts insisted that members of the court did not follow the ideology of the president who appointed them.
During a Tuesday discussion at Rice University, Roberts sought to dispel the notion that Justice Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, or Amy Coney Barrett would defer to President Donald Trump because he nominated them.
"The notion that we carry forward the views of the people that appointed us is absurd," Roberts claimed. "President George W. Bush appointed me 20 — 20 years ago. The idea that I'm carrying out his agenda somehow is absurd. The issues here, now, today, nobody would have thought those were going to be a big deal 20 years ago."
"And history is full of examples of presidents appointing people and being really surprised how they turned out, going both ways," he added. "It's Supreme Court police. And you become part of, it seems trite, of a real family. And that family is not going to look kindly on the idea that, well, you're just carrying out somebody else's view."