Mike Davis, the founder of the Article III Project and a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, has sharply criticized Chief Justice John Roberts, accusing him of failing to address what Davis describes as judicial overreach by lower federal courts that have blocked parts of President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. During an interview on a podcast hosted by actor and comedian Joe Piscopo, Davis discussed a recently filed lawsuit targeting Roberts in his role as head of the Judicial Conference of the United States. The complaint also names Robert J. Conrad, who leads the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
According to the lawsuit, both the Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office have engaged in regulatory actions that exceed their constitutional authority. The complaint argues that these activities extend beyond the judiciary’s traditional responsibilities of adjudicating cases and providing administrative support to the federal courts. The filing further contends that records maintained by the Judicial Conference under Roberts’ leadership should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Davis and other plaintiffs argue that if the judiciary is performing regulatory functions, related records should be available through public records requests. In the interview, Davis also criticized Roberts for not doing more to limit what he described as an unprecedented number of nationwide injunctions issued by federal district courts against the Trump administration.
“I actually like the Chief Justice,” Davis said, noting his professional background clerking for Gorsuch. However, he argued that Roberts has not taken sufficient steps to address what Davis characterized as judicial activism affecting the president’s constitutional authority under Article II. Davis further claimed that such rulings undermine the decisions of American voters and warned that his organization intends to challenge what it views as improper judicial intervention in executive branch policy.
