Supporters of President Donald Trump turned their sights on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett—and to a lesser extent, Chief Justice John Roberts—after they sided with the court's liberals in a ruling against the Trump administration on Wednesday.
Why It Matters
The court currently has a 6-3 conservative supermajority, but both Barrett and Roberts have at times broken ranks and voted with the court's liberal wing in rulings that have infuriated the MAGA base.
Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court for comment via email.
What To Know
The high court handed the U.S. president a significant setback when it ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration must abide by a lower court order to unfreeze $2 billion in foreign aid.
The aid was blocked after Trump signed an executive action his first day in office ordering the funding freeze while his administration scoured U.S. spending for what Trump and his allies characterize as "waste, fraud and abuse."
A lower court judge subsequently ordered the administration to unblock the aid in response to a lawsuit filed by nonprofit organizations in connection to the Trump administration's freezing of foreign assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department.
In a 5-4 ruling on Wednesday, Barrett and Roberts joined Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson and left in place the ruling by U.S. District Judge Amir Ali.
Barrett drew immediate backlash from prominent Trump supporters over her siding with the majority.
"Disgraceful," one X user, Paul Szypula, wrote in reaction to the ruling. "Amy Barrett was a bad SCOTUS nominee."
"Looking that way," Charlie Kirk, the founder and CEO of TPUSA and one of Trump's most high-profile backers, wrote in response.
Eric Daugherty, a pro-Trump media personality, posted a photo of Barrett and wrote, "She's a big problem."
Mike Cernovich, a longtime conservative activist and Trump supporter, amplified a video of Barrett and Trump interacting during his address to a joint session of Congress.
"She is evil, chosen solely because she checked identity politics boxes," Cernovich wrote. "Another DEI hire. It always ends badly."
Mike Davis, a former law clerk for Gorsuch and the former chief nominations counsel for Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, didn't name Barrett directly but echoed Cernovich's criticisms of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which Trump has dismantled across the federal government.
He wrote on X: "President Trump will pick even more bold and fearless judges in his second term. Extreme vetting. No DEI. No missteps."
Davis signed the post, "Sincerely, @Article3Project," referring to the legal think tank he launched that he said is committed to shaping a conservative judiciary and defending Trump in the courts and in the media.
Conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented from the majority opinion.
What People Are Saying
Alito wrote that he was "stunned" by the majority, adding: "Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) billion[s in] taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic 'No,' but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise."
What Comes Next
The majority noted that a court-ordered deadline to spend the money by February 26 had already passed, and directed Ali to "clarify what obligations the government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order."
Ali's temporary restraining order on the government, meanwhile, is in place through March 10.
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About the writer
Sonam Sheth is an Evening Politics Editor at Newsweek who is based in New York. She joined Newsweek in 2024 ... Read more