Republicans took a victory lap after the Supreme Court ruled former President Donald Trump has immunity from criminal prosecution over some actions he took as president, while Democrats bashed the decision as an outcome that would haunt the country.
GOP lawmakers are framing the court’s decision as a defense against what they say have been Democrats’ attempts to take down Trump and weaponize the legal system against him.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan pledged his panel will “continue to oversee dangerous lawfare tactics in our judicial system,” and said he hopes the decision will stop “attacks on President Trump and uphold democratic norms.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement the decision “upholds the rule of law in our country and rebukes Democrats’ blatant attempts to weaponize our legal system against Donald Trump.”
Democrats, meanwhile, voiced dismay that the conservative court has offered even partial protection to the former president, severely complicating efforts to put Trump on trial.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the decision as a “sad day for America and a sad day for our democracy.”
“Treason or incitement of an insurrection should not be considered a core constitutional power afforded to a president,” he wrote in a post on social media network X.
“Shame on the six aiders and abettors of treason,” Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, wrote on social media, referencing the six conservative justices on the court.
Virginia Democrat Rep. Gerry Connolly, a member of the Oversight panel, noted the stakes of the decision and warned the “shameful” outcome “will haunt us for years to come.”
“American democracy is under homegrown attack,” he said.
Fellow Oversight member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) was even blunter: “The court can no longer be counted on to defend the constitution,”he wrote in a social media post.
Democrats are also hand-wringing over how much the decision leaves unresolved, leaving U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to decide which of the allegations which are deemed Trump’s official acts and which are private.
“The vagueness of the standard for immunity set in the ruling is concerning,” Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) wrote on social media. “It would be hard to argue that dispensing a mob to overturn the election is part of the president’s ‘official duties.'”