Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett pushed back against claims that the United States in currently in a constitutional crisis, an argument Democrats have been making since five minutes after President Donald Trump took office.
Barrett participated in an interview with The Free Press’ Bari Weiss on Thursday night in which she discussed a series of topics. Weiss asked the justice whether America is in the throes of a constitutional crisis. Barrett rejected the assertion, saying “the Constitution is alive and well.”
"I don't know what a constitutional crisis would look like. I don't think that we are currently in a constitutional crisis, however," she continued. "I think our country remains committed to the rule of law. I think we have functioning courts."
The justice argued that there would only be a constitutional crisis if “the rule of law crumbled” and that this “is not a place where we are.”
Federal judges anonymously criticized the Supreme Court during a recent interview for shutting down their rulings against the Trump administration.
From NBC News:
Some judges believe the Supreme Court, and in particular Chief Justice John Roberts, could be doing more to defend the integrity of their work as President Donald Trump and his allies harshly criticize those who rule against him and as violent threats against judges are on the rise.
In rare interviews with NBC News, a dozen federal judges — appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents, including Trump, and serving around the country — pointed to a pattern they say has recently emerged:
Lower court judges are handed contentious cases involving the Trump administration. They painstakingly research the law to reach their rulings. When they go against Trump, administration officials and allies criticize the judges in harsh terms. The government appeals to the Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority.
And then the Supreme Court, in emergency rulings, swiftly rejects the judges’ decisions with little to no explanation.
Emergency rulings used to be rare. But their number has dramatically increased in recent years.
“If I distort the law to make it difficult for them to impose the death penalty, I interfere with the voters’ right to self-government,” writes Justice Barrett on not letting her personal views clash with her duty as a judge. https://t.co/N8ygSh6wzM
— The Free Press (@TheFP) September 3, 2025
The judges who spoke with NBC News insisted that the Supreme Court should provide better explanations for its rulings.
Barrett acknowledged the polarization America is experiencing, saying it is ‘true that right now we’re at a time of passionate disagreement in America, but we have been in times of passionate disagreements before.”
““I mean, if you just look at the 20th century and you think about campus unrest during the Vietnam War, and you can think about the Great Depression, and then if you go back a little further and you think about the Civil War,” Barrett continued. “You think about the 1950s; you think about the civil rights movement. I mean, we’ve had times in this country where we have been literally divided, and we have come out stronger for it.”
The justice further stated that she is concerned about the declining trust in the high court, saying she “would like Americans to trust the institution of the court,” but stated that she doesn’t think “the court is above criticism.”
Barrett’s points are valid. But it’s also worth noting that the term “constitutional crisis” no longer has any meaning. It’s a term members of the chattering class throw out with reckless abandon whenever the opposite party is in power.
Just as Barrett, most people likely don’t even know what an actual constitutional crisis might look like. In fact, one could argue that the days in which we were not in such a situation have long past. Politicians and government officials are more than willing to shred the Constitutuion whenever it is expedient. The federal government has grown into a gargantuan beast that would shock the Founding Fathers.
Our government has illegally spied on American citizens, brazenly infringed on the First and Second Amendments with impunity. And it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Perhaps a constitutional crisis is now a normal state of affairs in America.