House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday the Trump administration is “respecting the process” while defending his recent executive order on immigration, and is not the first president to lash out at the judicial branch.
“He’s not the first president to get frustrated with a ruling from the court,” Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters at the Capitol Hill Club, where Republicans met to discuss fundraising and campaign issues early Tuesday.
Ryan was questioned by reporters about Trump’s recent string of tweets criticizing the courts and District Court Judge James Robart, who has halted the order temporarily blocking refugees and travel from seven countries.
Those defending Trump’s tweets have pointed to President Obama’s 2010 address to a joint session of Congress, at which he he criticized the Supreme Court for overturning a major campaign finance law as several justices sat just feet away in the audience.
“Look, I know he’s an unconventional president and he gets frustrated with judges, but he’s respecting the process and I think that’s what counts at the end of the day,” Ryan said of Trump.
Ryan typically sidesteps questions from the press about Trump’s tweets and criticisms and focuses on how the administration is governing, and he did so again on Tuesday, by noting that the Justice Department is challenging the Robart’s ruling, he said.
“I think what’s most important are the actions,” Ryan said. “This administration is honoring the ruling and this administration is going through the proper procedures to deal with the ruling and trying to get the ruling overturned. They are going through the appeals process, respecting the separation of powers in the process.”
