This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at Balls and Strikes.
On New Year’s Eve, Chief Justice John Roberts published the 2025 year-end report on the federal judiciary. For nearly 50 years, these annual reports consisted of the chief justice’s reflections on the state of the judiciary, some data on the federal court system’s workload, and a handful of recommendations for improvement.
Since 2009, however, Roberts has made the tradition his own, usually foregoing meaningful discussion of current events in favor of recounting insipid historical anecdotes. If you are looking for stories about the future justices who rejected monarchy by signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776, you will find them in Roberts’ latest report. If you are looking for information about the sitting justices who are signing opinions that bestow kingly powers unto Donald Trump, you will not.
