Sen. Tom Cotton: Chief Justice Roberts More Concerned About Reputation Than Rule of Law

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., says Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts seems more concerned about his reputation than the rule of law, following Roberts' decision Thursday to vote with liberal justices in blocking President Donald Trump's attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

"Unfortunately, Chief Justice Roberts consistently seems more concerned about the reputation of the court and his reputation among Democrats and the media than the rule of law," Cotton told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" on Saturday.

"And now in this immigration case in which the court ruled that President Trump cannot simply undo what President Obama did. That cannot be the law. And if the Chief Justice thinks he has such excellent political judgment, I would recommend that he resign and travel to Iowa for the caucuses and see if he can earn the votes of his fellow Americans. If he wants to be the Chief Justice, he should follow the law and he should uphold the Constitution and our laws as they are written, not apply two different standards – one for President Obama and one for President Trump."

Roberts led the court in ruling 5-4 that the Trump administration failed to address important procedural issues with DACA, which protects about 700,000 young immigrants known as Dreamers from deportation.

"Here the agency failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to DACA recipients," wrote Roberts. "That dual failure raises doubts about whether the agency appreciated the scope of its discretion or exercised that discretion in a reasonable manner."

The court did not decide whether "DACA or its rescission are sound policies," Roberts wrote.

He continued: "We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action."

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