Speaker Johnson Backs Efforts to Impeach Judges Over Rulings

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he supports efforts to impeach certain federal judges whose rulings have angered Republicans, endorsing the use of a tool rarely used against judicial officials as tensions climb between President Donald Trump and the courts.

Asked about his response to Senate Republicans’ calls to bring articles of impeachment against two federal judges in Washington and Maryland, Johnson (R-La.) told reporters on Wednesday that he’s “for it,” pointing to what he described as “egregious abuses” by judges.

“Impeachment as we have discussed all together many, many times is an extreme measure, but extreme times call for extreme measures,” Johnson said. “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 the law, so to speak, and to make an example of some of these egregious abuses.”

His expression of support comes as Senate Republicans have ramped up calls to impeach Chief Judge James “Jeb” Boasberg of the US District Court for the District of Columbia and Judge Deborah Boardman of the District of Maryland.

Republican lawmakers have taken issue with orders Boasberg signed related to former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Boasberg has also faced scrutiny for his handling of litigation challenging Trump’s use of a wartime authority to deport alleged gang members to a Salvadoran prison. The judge has initiated an inquiry into whether administration officials defied his order to return the planes.

Republicans have also called to impeach Boardman over her decision to give an 8-year prison sentence to the person convicted of attempting to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, more than two decades below prosecutors’ requested penalty.

The Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee centered those two judges at a hearing it held earlier this month with the stated intention of “holding rogue judges accountable.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the top Republican of the committee’s federal courts panel, wrote to Johnson asking him to “immediately advance” articles of impeachment against those two judges in his chambers.

Fellow Texas Republican Reps. Brandon Gill and Chip Roy introduced resolutions last year to impeach Boasberg and Boardman, respectively.

Roy also attempted to add language to annual spending legislation that would have slashed funding for Boasberg’s and Boardman’s chambers staff over their rulings. The proposal was shot down on the floor, with more than 40 Republicans voting against it.

Johnson has previously called to rein in judicial power through other means, such as by curbing funding for the courts and restraining judges’ authority to block policies nationwide. He’s stopped short in the past of advocating directly for impeachment.

Johnson faces difficult math in his chamber to usher through an impeachment resolution. He can afford to lose only two Republican votes, assuming all Democrats vote against the measure. And the effort is all but assured to fail in the Senate, which holds impeachment trials and where a two-third vote is required to convict.

Impeachments of federal judges are rare. Fifteen judges have been impeached throughout US history. The most recent was in 2010, when Louisiana federal judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. was removed from the bench for accepting bribes and making false statements.

Chief Justice John Roberts said in March that impeachment “is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”

House Republicans impeached President Joe Biden’s homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, in 2024. The Senate dismissed the charges.