Obama administration respects the Supreme Court

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Attorney General Eric Holder told a federal appeals court today that President Obama and the Justice Department respect the Supreme Court's right to review legislation, and he pushed back on the judge's criticism of Obama's comments on the pending health care case. "The department has not in this litigation, nor in any other litigation of which I am aware, ever asked this or any other court to reconsider or limit long-established precedent concerning judicial review of the constitutionality of federal legislation," Holder wrote. At the end of a three-page memo addressed mainly to Appeals Court Judge Jerry Smith, Holder wrote: "The President's remarks were fully consistent with the principles described herein." On Monday, Obama said he expects the Supreme Court to uphold the health care law -- and that an adverse ruling could well be defined as "judicial activism." The president cited "conservative commentators" who have argued that "the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint -- that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law. Well, this is a good example." Another critic: An appeals court judge named Jerry Smith. During a hearing this week, Smith told a Justice Department lawyer that Obama's comments "troubled a number of people who have read it as somehow a challenge to the federal courts or to their authority or to the appropriateness of the concept of judicial review. And that's not a small matter." Smith ordered the DOJ to produce the letter that Holder released today. As we reported earlier, both Obama and Smith have been criticized for commenting publicly as the Supreme Court works on its opinion in the health care case -- a decision not expected to come down until June. Obama's comments on the case have drawn harsh criticism from Republicans who voted against the health care law. They accused Obama of trying to intimidate the court into a favorable ruling. 'The president crossed a dangerous line this week," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a speech today. "The independence of the court must be defended." In today's memo, Holder echoed Obama and other aides who have said that the high court generally defers to Congress on major economic legislation, such as the 2010 health care law. "While duly recognizing the courts' authority to engage in judicial review, the executive branch has often urged courts to respect the legislative judgments of Congress," Holder wrote.