Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Wednesday warned that progressivism threatens the nation’s founding principles, calling it “retrogressive” in remarks delivered at the University of Texas at Austin marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
In a speech focused on constitutional first principles, Thomas, part of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, argued that progressivism seeks to replace the Declaration’s core commitments to natural rights and limited government. He said the Declaration defines the ends of government, while the Constitution provides the means to protect liberty from concentrated power and the dangers of unchecked majority rule.
Thomas traced progressive political thought to early 20th‑century ideas promoted by President Woodrow Wilson, whom he said admired European models of centralized state authority. Those ideas, Thomas argued, reject the notion that rights are inherent and instead treat liberty as something granted by government rather than existing independently of it.
He said abandoning natural rights in favor of evolving notions of historical progress has repeatedly led to abuse, pointing to segregation, eugenics and other state‑sanctioned policies upheld in past Supreme Court decisions. Thomas argued that progressivism’s emphasis on administrative power undercuts self‑government and weakens constitutional limits.
Invoking figures from James Madison to Abraham Lincoln and Calvin Coolidge, Thomas urged renewed commitment to the Declaration’s principles, warning that departure from them risks moving backward rather than advancing freedom.
The conservative justice appointed by President George H.W. Bush also published an excerpt of his speech Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal.
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