Trump fuels growing GOP fight over impeaching judges
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President Trump stands in the presidential box at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on March 17. Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
A fissure is emerging among congressional Republicans over whether to pursue the impeachment of federal judges who block President Trump's agenda.
Why it matters: Trump kicked the conversation to another level this week by advocating impeachment himself, but virtually all GOP lawmakers would need to be on board for it to actually happen. They are not.
- Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), chair of the Main Street Caucus, told Axios: "We shouldn't impeach judges because they render a decision we disagree with. The remedy for bad decisions is getting them overturned on appeal."
- "We have a tradition going back to 1789 of respecting judges' decisions or appealing them. It is the way we respect the Separation of Powers in the Constitution," said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.).
- Said a senior House Republican: "This doesn't have the votes."
Zoom out: It's not just House members. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told Politico the idea of impeaching judges for their rulings is "idiotic."
- Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told the outlet: "You don't impeach judges who make decisions you disagree with."
Driving the news: Trump said Tuesday in a post on Truth Social that Judge James Boasberg, "like many of the Crooked Judges' I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!"
- Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for D.C., ordered a flight deporting roughly 250 alleged Venezuelan gang members turned around as he adjudicates the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1789 to carry out the removals.
- Trump's call to impeach Boasberg was swiftly answered by Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), who introduced articles of impeachment just hours later.
Zoom in: Boasberg is one of at least four federal judges against whom House Republicans have filed articles of impeachment for issuing rulings unfavorable to the administration.
- Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) has also said he plans to introduce articles targeting a fifth: John J. McConnell Jr., a Rhode Island federal judge who ordered the administration to lift its freeze on federal payments.
- Successful judicial impeachments are rare — the last one was in 2010 — and usually involve gross personal misconduct or financial corruption.
Zoom in: Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a Republican appointee, waded into the fight Tuesday with a rare public comment pushing back on Trump's call to impeach Boasberg.
- "For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose," he said.
State of play: House Republican leadership isn't ruling out holding votes on judicial impeachments. "Everything is on the table," said Russell Dye, a spokesperson for House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
- A spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a statement: "Activist judges with political agendas pose a significant threat to the rule of law, equal justice, and the separation of powers."
- "The Speaker looks forward to working with the Judiciary Committee as they review all available options under the Constitution to address this urgent matter," they added.
- With a House majority of roughly two seats, however, Republicans will have virtually no room for error if they bring impeachment to the floor for a vote.
What to watch: Trump probably isn't about to let the issue go any time soon despite the divisions within his party. In fact, he's more likely to hit the throttle.
- On Wednesday his political operation sent out a fundraising email with the subject line "Impeach. Impeach. Impeach." It called Boasberg a "troublemaker and agitator" and said he "should be IMPEACHED!!!"
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
