Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has come under fire from fellow conservatives after backing the White House in a vote pertaining to border security.
On Monday, the nation's high court voted 5-4 in approval of the request to vacate an October injunction from the Fifth Circuit that blocked President Joe Biden's administration from instructing federal agents to remove razor wire placed along the border in Texas.
The decision marked a rare victory for the Democratic president from the 6-3 conservative court. Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson were joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Barrett from the conservative wing in voting to approve the request to vacate. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh were the dissenting votes.
In joining Roberts to vote alongside the court's liberal wing on the case, Barrett stirred up ire among various conservatives on X, previously Twitter. Barrett was appointed to the court in late 2020 by former President Donald Trump, following the death of long-serving liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
"Wow. SCOTUS Justices Roberts and Barrett sided with the left wing and have allowed Biden's federal officers to continue removing the border fencing erected by the state of Texas while the case is pending," conservative lawyer Marina Medvin wrote in a post. "Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh, and Gorsuch would have prevented the feds from doing so."
Newsweek reached out to the high court's press office via email on Monday evening for comment.
"The Supreme Court just ruled 5-4 that the Biden admin can remove physical barriers Texas put at their border to stop the invasion," Greg Price, communications official with the State Freedom Caucus Network, wrote. "Barrett and Roberts voted with the libs."
"Amy Coney Barrett just voted in favor of allowing Biden's federal border agents to dismantle razor fencing set up by Texas agents to stop illegals immigrants entering America," the official account for conservative outlet Citizen Free Press posted. "The vote was 5-4. She was the deciding vote. What a nightmare."
The official account for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was among the most prominent to touch on the ruling, though the post did not single out Barrett or Roberts.
"Texas is trying to enforce our laws and uphold our sovereignty while the federal government is disregarding the law and ignoring its responsibility to protect our borders," the post read. "What an upside down world."
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Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more
