Trump allies have threatened to impeach judges: Here's how Congress would do it
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Republican lawmakers have launched several long-shot attempts to impeach judges who have stood in the way of some of the Trump administration's most aggressive actions.
Why it matters: There is a longstanding tradition that federal judges should not be impeached due to disagreements with their rulings — a norm endorsed by Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday in a rare rebuke of President Trump from the high court.
- But Trump and his allies have not shied away from calling for judges hindering his sweeping policies to be impeached, with the president characterizing those who have ruled against him as "Radical Left Lunatic" and "Crooked" judges.
Reality check: It's highly improbable the GOP-led efforts would result in any of the judges being ousted from the bench.
- If they somehow did, it would be a shocking breach of centuries of precedent.
Here's how a federal judge is impeached and convicted and how the process has been used:
How does Congress impeach a federal judge?
The House has the power to impeach a judge, while the Senate holds the trial to determine whether the judge should be removed from the bench.
- The House can impeach a judge with just a majority vote, but a two-thirds majority vote to convict in the Senate is required to remove a judge from office.
- That's a near-impossible feat with the current balance of power in the Senate.
Zoom in: Like other civil officials, judges can be removed after being impeached and convicted for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors," under Article II of the Constitution.
- Article III explains that judges should hold their offices during "good Behaviour."
Impeachment has historically been reserved for serious criminal or ethical misconduct, per the Brennan Center.
- And decades of practice lean toward a "strong tradition" against impeaching judges over their rulings, a precedent in part built on the impeachment but failed removal of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in the early 1800s after he criticized President Thomas Jefferson.
- Chase is the only Supreme Court justice ever impeached by the House.
How has the process been used in the past?
By the numbers: Only 15 federal judges have been impeached by the House of Representatives since the first in 1803 — John Pickering, a district judge who was impeached and removed on charges of mental instability and intoxication on the bench.
- Of those, only eight have been convicted by the Senate and removed from office. Four were acquitted, and three resigned after their impeachment.
- Most recently, Congress impeached and removed G. Thomas Porteous Jr., a Louisiana-based judge, on charges that included making false statements under penalty of perjury, in 2010.
Zoom out: Beyond intoxication on the bench and making false statements, other charges that have triggered successful impeachment votes include abuse of the contempt power, favoritism in the appointment of bankruptcy receivers, accepting bribes and sexual assault.
Zoom in: While Trump's rhetoric when attacking judges falls far outside the historical norm, he is not the first politician to suggest a sitting federal judge should be impeached over a disagreement with a ruling.
- As the Brennan Center notes, the late Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who became the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, suggested during a campaign stop that Judge Harold Baer Jr. should be impeached over a controversial ruling in a drug case.
- Former President Clinton's spokesperson did not rule out seeking Baer's resignation, per New York Times reporting from that year. Baer eventually reversed his decision.
Which judges are House Republicans targeting?
The latest: Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) plans to introduce articles of impeachment against District Judge James Boasberg, the D.C.-based judge who ordered the administration to halt flights deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act of 1789.
But the effort to oust Boasberg is not the only impeachment resolution introduced or threatened this session.
- Paul Engelmayer, who limited DOGE's access to sensitive Treasury data;
- John Bates, who ordered the administration to restore health agency webpages and datasets that went dark;
- Amir Hatem Mahdy Ali, who ordered the administration to temporarily reinstate foreign aid funding;
- and John McConnell Jr., who ordered the administration to lift its federal spending freeze and who Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) recently said he was drafting articles of impeachment against.
Go deeper: Venezuelan deportation judge "beating a dead horse," DOJ says in scathing reply
