trouble ruling against a president who appointed you and against the executive branch in any case before you. you partly talked about independence but apply it specifically to a ruling against a president or the executive branch, generally. >> thank you, mr. chairman. to begin with, you're correct, no one is above the law in our constitutional system. federalist 69, hamilton, makes clear all the ways the executive bran branch as designed by the framers of the constitution was different from the monarchy. the branch is subject to the law. subject to the court system. that's an important part of federalist 69. it is an important part of the constitutional structure. in general, so, too, we as judges are separate from the congress. we are not supposed to be influenced by political pressure