Republican lawmakers resurrect impeachment of DC Fed Judge Boasberg

WASHINGTON (CN) — Texas Representative Brandon Gill on Tuesday became the latest Republican lawmaker to file articles of impeachment against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, accusing him of abusing his power in connection with a special counsel investigation into the 2020 presidential election.

It’s the latest attempt by GOP members of Congress to remove Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia who has become a frequent political target of President Donald Trump and his allies.

But previous efforts to impeach the jurist have proven to be little more than a sideshow for skeptical Republican leaders.

Gill’s articles of impeachment center around Boasberg’s involvement in an FBI investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Republicans in recent weeks have fumed about the probe, informally known as “Arctic Frost” amid revelations that investigators had analyzed the phone logs of several GOP lawmakers.

According to the Texas congressman, Boasberg authorized special counsel Jack Smith to issue nondisclosure orders covering lawmakers whose phone records had been accessed, as well as their cell phone carriers. Such orders, Gill claimed, were “frivolous” and threatened members of Congress by “imposing undue legal scrutiny for fulfilling their constitutional duties.”

The congressman cited federal law which bars courts from issuing orders that block anyone providing services for a senator from notifying them “of any legal process seeking disclosure of Senate data.”

“Chief Judge Boasberg does not appreciate basic statute and contributed to the legal inquiries that violate the law indicating he is unfit to serve as Chief Judge,” Gill wrote.

The lawmaker further accused Boasberg of “ignoring his responsibility to wield the power of his office in a constitutional manner,” and claimed that the federal judge had committed high crimes and misdemeanors that would require his impeachment.

In a post on X, Gill argued that Boasberg had weaponized the federal judiciary against critics of former President Joe Biden. “Not only was this action egregiously improper; it was a gross violation of the separation of powers,” the Texas Republican said.

Gill’s articles of impeachment were co-sponsored by Arizona Representative Andy Biggs and Georgia Representative Mike Collins.

“The reign of terror from rogue activist judges must end,” Collins wrote in a post on X.

House Republicans have tried on several occasions to impeach Boasberg, a Barack Obama appointee, and several other federal judges who they view as opponents of the Trump administration’s sweeping executive agenda. But none of these efforts have managed to stick.

Gill himself unveiled separate impeachment articles against Boasberg in March, after the judge temporarily blocked the White House from carrying out a mass deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants. Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles and Georgia Representative Andrew Clyde also filed their own articles of impeachment against the D.C. judge and several other jurists, citing “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Much like presidents, Congress reserves the constitutional right to impeach federal judges. But Republican leaders have so far been skeptical that Boasberg or any other jurists have engaged in any conduct worthy of removal.

California Representative Darrell Issa, who has besmirched judges ruling against Trump as “activists in robes,” has nonetheless balked at judicial impeachments. He told Courthouse News in the spring that he had a “high standard” for such a decision.

“Judges make these decisions,” he said at the time. “It might be maladministration, it might be wrong and inappropriate — it might even be done for purely political reasons … but it falls short of high crimes, misdemeanors or the question of good behavior.”

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has similarly dismissed the idea that Congress should impeach judges who have ruled against the Trump administration. “You can’t just impeach a judge just because you disagree with an opinion,” he said in April.

Chief Justice John Roberts has also weighed in on the matter, issuing a rare statement earlier this year in which he said that impeachment was “not an appropriate response” to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.

It’s unclear yet whether top Republicans view the conduct laid out in Gill’s latest impeachment articles against Boasberg as worthy of further investigation.

In order to remove a judge from the federal bench, the House would need to approve articles of impeachment on a simple majority vote. The matter would then move to the Senate, which would hold a trial and vote on whether to convict the offending jurist.

Only 15 federal judges have been impeached throughout U.S. history — and fewer have been removed from office entirely.

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