Chief Justice John Roberts used his two most recent annual reports to condemn politicians for intimidating judges and warn about artificial intelligence.
This year, Roberts steered clear of current affairs.
His 2025 Year End Report on the Judiciary, released Wednesday evening, makes no mention of the tensions that have grown in the judiciary over the Supreme Court's emergency decisions implicating President Trump's second-term agenda.
Instead, Roberts opted to fill his report with reflections on the Declaration of Independence. As the declaration's 250th anniversary approaches next year, Roberts detailed how the country has gradually moved closer to its ideals in a historical review stretching from Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" to the civil rights era.
"These national accomplishments illustrate that the responsibilities for living up to the promises of the Declaration rest on all three branches of our government as well as on each successive generation of Americans," Roberts wrote.
"Those of us in the Third Branch must continue to decide the cases before us according to our oath, doing equal right to the poor and to the rich, and performing all of our duties faithfully and impartially under the Constitution and laws of the United States," he continued.
The report's traditional release on New Year's Eve follows a year dominated by Trump's return to the White House.
His second-term agenda sparked hundreds of lawsuits that flooded the federal courts. Judges across the country have regularly issued injunctions blocking Trump's policies. Roughly 30 of them reached the Supreme Court's emergency docket, where Trump nearly always emerged victorious.
As Trump's allies piled on public criticism and impeachment threats against inferior judges, often accusing them of being far-left activists biased against the president's agenda, the Supreme Court's emergency rulings lifting their injunctions have sparked tensions within the judiciary itself.
In written opinions, several judges have openly criticized the high court for its decisions and the scant explanations often provided. Some judges have taken to anonymously speaking to the press.
Roberts typically makes no mention of Trump or any specific recent cases in his year-end reports. But following the recent tensions, his newest one notably steers clear of all controversy after approaching more current topics in some recent years.
Last year, Roberts focused on threats to judges. He condemned public officials for rhetoric that intimidates judges and could "prompt dangerous reactions by others." The comments were viewed by some as a prelude to Trump's White House return, but a top adviser to the chief justice reportedly said he began working on the report prior to Trump's election.
Roberts in 2023 detailed his thoughts on artificial intelligence, talking about its benefits in the legal world as he warned about its simultaneous dangers.
This year, the chief justice came the closest to referencing recent tensions when he invoked former President Coolidge. At the nation's 150th anniversary, Coolidge remarked that Americans could turn for solace to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which would "remain firm and unshaken" amid conflicting interests and partisan politics.
"True then; true now," Roberts wrote, before signing off with his typical thank-you to judges and court employees.