Republicans target two judges for impeachment
Two GOP lawmakers filed articles of impeachment on Monday against two judges who issued rulings that effectively blocked President Trump from advancing parts of his agenda.
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) said he introduced articles of impeachment against Rhode Island-based U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnell, who earlier this month issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration’s sweeping federal spending freeze. The request for an injunction came from Democratic attorneys general.
One article accuses McConnell of “abuse of power,” saying the judge “knowingly politicized and weaponized his judicial position to advance his own political views and beliefs,” which Clyde said align with the Democratic Party.
A second article accuses McConnell of “conflicts of interest,” saying his position on the board of a non-profit organization could impair his judgment since the organization receives funding from the State of Rhode Island, which is a named plaintiff in the case against Trump over which McConnell presided. Clyde said McConnell should have recused himself from the case.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) separately announced on Monday that he filed an impeachment article against Maryland-based U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, who last week blocked tech billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from taking further steps to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USSAID) and mandated that the government restore access to email for current USAID employees.
Ogles said in his resolution that Chuang “marginalized the President’s Article II authority” in the ruling, which Ogles also called a “patent violation of the separation of powers.”
The lawmakers accused the respective judges of high crimes and misdemeanors and argued separately the judges should be removed from power.
The targeting of the judges adds to a small but growing list of judges who have ruled against the Trump administration and who now face impeachment articles in the House.
President Trump, too, has called to impeach at least one district judge, James Boasberg, who issued a nationwide injunction to block his administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants.
Impeachment is seen as a largely futile effort, given the near-zero chance that at least 14 Senate Democrats would join Republicans in convicting and removing any of the judges.
Calls to impeach federal judges over disappointing decisions have concerned legal experts, including Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, who issued a rare statement last week warning against calling for impeachments.
"For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” he wrote last week.
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