If President Donald Trump chooses to directly disobey a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), there's nothing judges can do to stop him.
That's according to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who Trump appointed to the Court in the fall of 2020 to fill the seat vacated by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett told the New York Times' Ross Douthat on the Thursday episode of his podcast that the structure of the Supreme Court dictates that its rulings be adhered to not by force, but out of tradition. And if a president disregards that tradition, there's little judges can do to deter him.
Douthat began his questioning by acknowledging that the Supreme Court "does not command the power of the purse, doesn’t command the military, doesn’t have police powers" but instead relies on "prestige, public support [and] a historic constitutional role." He then referenced former President Andrew Jackson, who challenged then-Chief Justice John Marshall to "enforce" a ruling he disagreed with (something Vice President JD Vance has also referenced).
"How do you think about that potential challenge, as a member of the court?" Douthat asked Barrett. She initially responded by saying Douthat was "absolutely right" in seeing the court as an arbiter of discussions about separation of powers between the president and Congress. But Douthat pressed her again.
"OK, let me try that again," Douthat said. "If a president defied the Supreme Court, what would you do?"
"Well, as you say, the court lacks the power of the purse. We lack the power of the sword," she said. "And so, We interpret the Constitution, we draw on precedents, we have these questions of structure, and we make the most with the tools that we have."
Barrett's remarks come in the context of the Supreme Court just recently starting its latest term. Its six-member conservative supermajority is already poised to weigh in on numerous issues pertaining to the right of presidents to bypass Congress in determining how federal money is spent, whether migrants can be deported to countries that aren't their nation of origin and potentially the legality of Trump deploying U.S. military personnel to American cities against the wishes of local and state authorities.
Click here to read Barrett's full interview.