March 18, 2025
Chris Walker
Trump’s call for the judge to be impeached came after his administration blatantly ignored one of the judge’s orders.
Chris Walker
Trump’s call for the judge to be impeached came after his administration blatantly ignored one of the judge’s orders.
In a Tuesday morning rant on Truth Social, President Donald Trump called for a federal judge to be impeached after the judge had issued orders — which were blatantly defied by Trump — halting some of the president’s immigration actions.
Federal District Judge James Boasberg held a fact-finding hearing on Monday after around 200 Venezuelan immigrants — whom the Trump administration had alleged, without evidence, were gang members — were deported from the U.S. to an El Salvador prison. The deportations occurred after Boasberg had verbally instructed the administration on Saturday to halt all deportation flights, and turn around any flights that were already in motion, after ruling that Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 should be blocked, at least temporarily.
When Boasberg asked lawyers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday why they so flagrantly defied his instructions, they said that Boasberg’s order could be disregarded since the migrants were already over international waters.
The judge condemned that reasoning.
“You knew in the morning [on Saturday] that there would be a hearing at 5 p.m., so any plane that you put into the air in or around that time you knew that I was having a hearing about,” Boasberg reminded lawyers for the administration. “So when I said directly to turn those planes around, the idea that my written order was pithier, that this could be disregarded, that’s a heck of a stretch.”
In response to Boasberg’s hearing, Trump issued a statement on Truth Social demanding that the judge be removed from his post.
Trump didn’t mention Boasberg’s name specifically, referring to him instead as a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge” and a “a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama.” Trump also claimed that Boasberg’s orders were illegitimate because he didn’t win any election to his position — a statement that is true of all federal judges, who are appointed by presidents and approved by the Senate.
Trump further claimed that his actions were more legitimate than Boasberg’s orders because he won “AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE” in the 2024 election, which is also false — Trump’s popular vote victory was not a majority approval.
“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ [sic] I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump added.
Trump’s statement is a direct challenge to the concept of checks and balances within the federal government, specifically the check on the executive branch by the judiciary, which is able to limit the president’s actions when they are outside of the law or constitutional framework. Trump’s post also comes on the heels of his administration arguing, within a brief submitted to the Supreme Court last week, that district judges cannot impose national injunctions. The brief related to blocks of Trump’s executive order on ending birthright citizenship.
While conservative lawmakers in Congress are now opposed to such checks, they were perfectly fine with them (and often celebrated them) when judges sought to overturn or block executive actions during the Biden administration.
In a statement reacting to Trump’s post, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back on his calls to impeach a judge who rules against a sitting president.
“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,” Roberts said.
Federal District Judge James Boasberg held a fact-finding hearing on Monday after around 200 Venezuelan immigrants — whom the Trump administration had alleged, without evidence, were gang members — were deported from the U.S. to an El Salvador prison. The deportations occurred after Boasberg had verbally instructed the administration on Saturday to halt all deportation flights, and turn around any flights that were already in motion, after ruling that Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 should be blocked, at least temporarily.
When Boasberg asked lawyers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday why they so flagrantly defied his instructions, they said that Boasberg’s order could be disregarded since the migrants were already over international waters.
The judge condemned that reasoning.
“You knew in the morning [on Saturday] that there would be a hearing at 5 p.m., so any plane that you put into the air in or around that time you knew that I was having a hearing about,” Boasberg reminded lawyers for the administration. “So when I said directly to turn those planes around, the idea that my written order was pithier, that this could be disregarded, that’s a heck of a stretch.”
In response to Boasberg’s hearing, Trump issued a statement on Truth Social demanding that the judge be removed from his post.
Trump didn’t mention Boasberg’s name specifically, referring to him instead as a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge” and a “a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama.” Trump also claimed that Boasberg’s orders were illegitimate because he didn’t win any election to his position — a statement that is true of all federal judges, who are appointed by presidents and approved by the Senate.
Trump further claimed that his actions were more legitimate than Boasberg’s orders because he won “AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE” in the 2024 election, which is also false — Trump’s popular vote victory was not a majority approval.
“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ [sic] I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump added.
Trump’s statement is a direct challenge to the concept of checks and balances within the federal government, specifically the check on the executive branch by the judiciary, which is able to limit the president’s actions when they are outside of the law or constitutional framework. Trump’s post also comes on the heels of his administration arguing, within a brief submitted to the Supreme Court last week, that district judges cannot impose national injunctions. The brief related to blocks of Trump’s executive order on ending birthright citizenship.
While conservative lawmakers in Congress are now opposed to such checks, they were perfectly fine with them (and often celebrated them) when judges sought to overturn or block executive actions during the Biden administration.
In a statement reacting to Trump’s post, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back on his calls to impeach a judge who rules against a sitting president.
“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,” Roberts said.
No comments:
Post a Comment