House speaker wants to 'make an example of' federal judges by impeaching them

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: msn/Alternet

5h


Some MAGA Republicans in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives are calling for articles of impeachment against federal judges who, they claim, are intruding on President Donald Trump's executive powers. And they are singling out U.S. District Judges James Boasberg and Deborah Boardman.

During a press conference on Wednesday, January 21, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) voiced his support for their efforts — mentioning Boasberg specifically.

Johnson told reporters, "I'm for it. Judge Boasberg is one who's been mentioned. And these are some egregious abuses…. Impeachment, as we have discussed all together many, many times, is an extreme measure. But extreme times call for extreme measures. And I think some of these judges have gotten so far outside the bounds of where they're supposed to operate, it would not be, in my view, a bad thing for Congress to lay down law, so to speak, and, you know, to make an example of some of these egregious abuses."

The Hill's Emily Brooks cites Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) as GOP lawmakers who are calling for articles of impeachment against federal judges.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/house-speaker-wants-to-make-an-example-of-federal-judges-by-impeaching-them/ar-AA1UGmly

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As a note, since we have heard Boasberg's name mentioned quite a lot the past year - he is the Chief Judge of the D.C. District Court (he replaced Beryl Howell, another who we heard mentioned a lot in the past, in 2023). He was originally a Shrub appointee to the D.C. District.

[RockRaven]

1. Remember this in Jan 2026...

Last edited Wed Jan 21, 2026, 09:57 PM - Edit history (1)

Goose, gander, yada yada

[C_U_L8R]

2. Apparently high crimes and misdemeanors...

…now means doing anything that might get Republican diapers in a bunch. What losers.
Maybe math-challenged Mike should stop wasting everyone’s time with this nonsense.

[nwduke]

3. It would take

2/3 vote from Senate to impeach him. They are just blowing smoke for headlines!

[rsdsharp]

4. No it would take 50% plus 1 in the House to impeach.

It would take a vote of 2/3 of the Senate to convict.

[nwduke]

11. That's my point

It will never get past the senate! So it’s a moot exercise and will go nowhere. It’s all for show.

[Marie Marie]

5. Gee, I wonder where he got the idea, suggestion or demand that he do this?

Sniveling little coward.

[Grokenstein]

10. It's weird hearing him voice an actual opinion

rather than his usual "don't know anything about it so I can't comment" shtick.

[fujiyamasan]

6. The biggest mistakes in US history

Are when the victors who were on the side of right (not talking about the right) let the other side off too easily.

In particular:

Letting the south off too easily after the civil war; allowing them to terrorize African Americans for well over another century, lynching and restricting their rights as full citizens.

And most modern history:

Pardoning Richard Nixon. One of the worst precedents ever set.

Obama administration not prosecuting Bush administration officials for war crimes.

And worst of all, not completely cleaning out the government of any and all Trump sympathetic people and allowing Garland to sit on his ass not doing anything. That loser should have been fired within a year.

[Justice matters.]

8. Garland should not have been appointed to begin with, period.

A covert Trump sympathetic heritage...

[Grins]

7. Can we impeach Thomas and Alito...

…for taking…bribes; let’s call them bribes…from those who have interests in certain court cases?

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

9. If We take the House, yes ...

But we would not be able to convict them in the Senate. Same basic situation as the current Speaker.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. MaddowBlog-Mike Johnson backs impeachment of judges who ruled against the White House

The crusade had been largely driven by the Republican fringe — until the House speaker endorsed the radical campaign.

House Speaker Mike Johnson backs impeachment of judges who ruled against the White House

www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Mike Walker (@newnarrative.bsky.social) 2026-01-22T16:11:51.932Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/mike-johnson-backs-impeachment-of-judges-who-ruled-against-the-white-house

At last count, House Republicans have filed impeachment resolutions against eight federal judges, though these radical efforts have been largely relegated to the party’s fringe. This week, that changed suddenly and unexpectedly. Politico reported:

Speaker Mike Johnson now supports the push inside his party to bring impeachment articles against judges perceived as antagonistic of President Donald Trump’s agenda — a notable shift for the Louisiana Republican who over the summer sought to squelch such effort.

‘I’m for it,’ Johnson told reporters at his weekly news conference Wednesday, responding to the question of whether he would endorse impeaching judges who have ruled against the administration.

He did not appear to be kidding.

Johnson on impeaching judges: "I'm for it"

— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2026-01-21T16:47:03.212Z

.....A group of congressional Republicans apparently interpreted Trump’s appeal as a directive and got to work introducing impeachment resolutions against judges who ruled against the White House’s preferences.

Indeed, the list grew quickly. Over the course of a few months, GOP impeachment resolutions were filed against Boasberg, U.S. District Court Judge Amir Ali, U.S. District Court Judge John Bates, U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Boardman, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer, U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer and U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell Jr. (Technically, Engelmayer is facing two parallel impeachment measures.)....

The campaign, however, was largely ignored by most GOP lawmakers. Of the eight judicial impeachment resolutions introduced in 2025, most have fewer than 10 co-sponsors. There are currently 218 House Republicans, including a great many who deserve to be seen as very far to the right, and roughly 90% of them have made no effort to support or to advance these efforts......

It’s worth emphasizing that the impeachment resolutions, should GOP leaders bring them to the House floor, are likely to fall short of a majority. What’s more, even if the House were to impeach any or all of these jurists, it would take 67 votes in the Senate to remove them from the federal bench, which is effectively an impossibility.

These obvious attempts at intimidating the judiciary, in other words, almost certainly won’t work.

But for Johnson to endorse publicly such a radical effort speaks volumes about how radical his politics have become.

Last year, a Marquette University Law School poll found that 70% of Americans opposed impeaching federal judges over anti-Trump rulings. There is, however, often a big gap between what the public wants and what Republican officials decide to do. Watch this space.