Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett pushed back Thursday against the idea that America is in the middle of a constitutional crisis, despite President Donald Trump’s aggressive use of
executive power and his frequent clashes with the courts.
Speaking at New York’s Lincoln Center during an event promoting her upcoming book *Listening to the Law*, Barrett said that while tensions are high, the country’s legal system is still holding up.
“I don’t think that we are currently in a constitutional crisis,” she told journalist Bari Weiss on stage. “A true crisis would mean the collapse of the rule of law. That’s not where we are. Our Constitution is alive and well, and our courts are functioning.”
Barrett’s comments come as Trump faces hundreds of legal challenges over his policies on immigration, trade, and government restructuring. Federal judges have repeatedly blocked or delayed many of his initiatives, prompting sharp criticism from Trump and his supporters. Earlier this year, Trump even called for the impeachment of a judge who was handling a deportation case, raising questions among legal experts about how far his administration would go in defying court orders.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has moved swiftly to expand executive authority, dismantle diversity programs, impose tariffs, and tighten immigration rules.
Barrett, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Trump in 2020, acknowledged that the nation is divided but said political conflict is nothing new. “Right now we’re in a time of passionate disagreement in America,” she said. “But we’ve been through passionate disagreements before.”
Her tenure on the court has already reshaped U.S. law in significant ways. Since 2020, the conservative majority has overturned Roe v. Wade, expanded gun rights, bolstered protections for religious groups, and struck down affirmative action in college admissions.
Barrett defended her vote to overturn Roe, noting that the court cannot make decisions based on polling. “It’s risky to take public opinion into account when you’re deciding cases,” she said.
That 2022 ruling eliminated the nationwide right to abortion and left the issue to the states. Since then, 18 states have passed near-total bans or early-term restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Meanwhile, polls show support for abortion rights has grown steadily—57% of Americans said in a 2024 Reuters/Ipsos poll that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, up from 46% a decade earlier.
For Barrett, the bigger picture is that the system still works. “Our country remains committed to the rule of law,” she said. Photo by Rachel Malehorn, Wikimedia commons.
