Overview
- Justice Elena Kagan publicly rejected the claim that the Supreme Court simply does what President Trump wants in remarks to a Ninth Circuit judicial conference on Thursday.
- Kagan acknowledged the Court's conservative tilt but pointed to recent defeats for the administration, including rulings on tariffs and birthright citizenship, as signs of judicial independence.
- She repeated her call for a committee of retired federal judges to enforce the ethics code the Court adopted in 2023, saying enforcement remains unresolved inside the Court.
- Kagan described President Trump's attendance at oral argument in the birthright citizenship case as a "non-event" and said he left about halfway through the session.
- Reporting emphasized different angles — some outlets highlighted Kagan's rebuttal to politicization claims while others focused on ethics and public trust — and her remarks are likely to sharpen congressional and public scrutiny of Court procedures.