In presiding over Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial this year, the chief justice got a taste of the venomous partisan warfare in Congress and did what he could to keep his distance. One of his tasks was to read questions submitted to him, even when they were directed at him.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts and a presidential candidate, had the chief justice recite this: “At a time when large majorities of Americans have lost faith in government, does the fact that the chief justice is presiding over an impeachment trial in which Republican senators have thus far refused to allow witnesses or evidence contribute to the loss of legitimacy of the chief justice, the Supreme Court and the Constitution?”

That echoed criticism from liberals who wanted Chief Justice Roberts to take a more active role in the trial. But he showed no inclination to explore the limits of his role as presiding officer.

He made this clear when Mr. Schumer asked whether the chief justice would break a tie vote. “If the members of this body elected by the people and accountable to them divide equally on a motion, the normal rule is that the motion fails,” Chief Justice Roberts said. “I think it would be inappropriate for me, an unelected official from a different branch of government, to assert the power to change that result so that the motion would succeed.”

Last week, Mr. Trump took issue with Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor. Justice Ginsburg had made critical remarks about Mr. Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, and Justice Sotomayor had issued a recent and routine dissent taking issue with a string of requests for emergency relief sought by the administration.

“Both should recuse themselves on all Trump, or Trump related, matters!” Mr. Trump said on Twitter.

In 2016, Mr. Trump called on Justice Ginsburg to resign after her remarks, which included calling him a faker. She did not, but expressed regret, saying that her remarks were “ill advised” for a Supreme Court justice and promised that “in the future, I will be more circumspect.”

Last week, Mr. Trump also criticized Justice Sotomayor’s dissent.

“I just thought it was so inappropriate, such a terrible statement for a Supreme Court justice,” the president said of Justice Sotomayor’s dissent, though he did not appear to have detailed familiarity with it.