The once tight bond between Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and MAGA ally Mike Davis has fractured, offering a personal window into the broader rift between the Trump administration and the justices it helped appoint.
Gorsuch once nicknamed Davis “the general” for the leading role he’s taken in his career, first by helping him secure his first federal judgeship, then by leading the public campaign for his Supreme Court confirmation and later serving as one of his inaugural clerks – but that closeness has since deteriorated, reported The Daily Beast.
One source with direct knowledge of the relationship told the Washington Post that Gorsuch was upset after Davis publicly attacked Justice Amy Coney Barrett, calling her a “rattled law professor” over rulings she joined against Trump alongside the court’s liberal justices. Another source with direct knowledge said Davis, in turn, was angered by Gorsuch’s vote to block the administration’s use of a wartime authority to deport Venezuelan migrants.
The strain became visible last year when Davis was notably absent from a gathering Gorsuch hosted for his former clerks. The two sources differed on whether Gorsuch asked Davis not to attend or whether Davis chose to stay away on his own.
Davis declined to discuss the relationship directly but defended his broader criticism of the court in an interview, arguing that an unfavorable ruling on birthright citizenship would damage the court’s standing. “They are following politics and vanity projects instead of the law,” he said, adding that public pressure on the justices could be productive. “Sometimes feeling the heat helps people see the light.”
The falling-out reflects a wider pattern playing out across President Donald Trump’s relationship with the court. Despite Gorsuch being one of three justices Trump appointed during his first term, the 80-year-old president has at times publicly criticized him by name, including accusing him of lacking “loyalty” after he joined a ruling striking down Trump’s tariffs.
Gorsuch, for his part, has avoided directly engaging with the criticism. Asked in a CBS News interview whether he owed loyalty to the president, he said simply that his “loyalty is to the Constitution.” Gorsuch did not respond to a request for comment on his relationship with Davis.
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