WASHINGTON – In a statement underscoring the enduring strength of the Constitution, Chief Justice John Roberts assured the nation of its continued resilience, even as the judiciary faces significant scrutiny and anticipates key Supreme Court decisions.

Roberts reaffirmed the steadfastness of the nation’s foundational texts, drawing upon a century-old assertion by President Calvin Coolidge, declaring them “firm and unshaken.” He emphasized this sentiment in his annual message to the judiciary, noting its relevance both historically and in today’s context.

This message follows a year marked by concerns among legal experts and Democrats about potential constitutional turbulence. These fears were fueled by reactions from supporters of Republican President Donald Trump, who challenged judicial decisions that impeded his ambitious conservative initiatives.

In a notable intervention, Roberts publicly criticized Trump after he suggested the impeachment of a judge who ruled against him in a case involving the deportation of Venezuelan migrants accused of gang affiliations.

Roberts’ correspondence on Wednesday primarily reflected on the nation’s legal heritage, referencing an early 19th-century precedent that established the principle against dismissing judges over controversial decisions.

While the Trump administration faced pushback in the lower courts, it has scored a series of some two dozen wins on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. The court’s conservative majority has allowed Trump to move ahead for now with banning transgender people from the military, clawing back billions of dollars of congressionally approved federal spending, moving aggressively on immigration and firing the Senate-confirmed leaders of independent federal agencies.

The court also handed Trump a few defeats over the last year, including in his push to deploy the National Guard to U.S. cities.

Other pivotal issues are ahead for the high court in 2026, including arguments over Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship and a ruling on whether he can unilaterally impose tariffs on hundreds of countries.

Roberts’ letter contained few references to those issues. It opened with a history of the seminal 1776 pamphlet “Common Sense,” written by Thomas Paine, a “recent immigrant to Britain’s North American colonies,” and closed with Coolidge’s encouragement to “turn for solace” to the Constitution and Declaration of Independence “amid all the welter of partisan politics.”