Republicans move to impeach judges who block Trump

The administration of US President Donald Trump and federal judges have clashed over court injunctions that have blocked White House policies, and Republican members of Congress are moving to have some of the judges impeached.

On March 18, United States Congressman Brandon Gill of Texas introduced a resolution to impeach US District Judge James Boasberg for ordering a halt to the deportation of Venezuelans accused of being gang members.

The deportations were carried out after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which he says grants him the authority to deport noncitizens without appearing before a judge.

Boasberg ruled that the immigrants facing deportation must be given a chance to challenge their designations as alleged gang members. There is "a strong public interest in preventing the mistaken deportation of people based on categories they have no right to challenge", he said, and "the public also has a significant stake in the government's compliance with the law".

On Monday Boasberg rejected a government application to have the order blocking the deportations lifted.

The same day Republican Congressman Andrew Clyde of Georgia indicated that he was introducing articles of impeachment against District Judge John James McConnell for his order extending a block on the administration's attempt to freeze payments for federal grants and other government programs approved by Congress.

McConnell ruled that such broad categorical funding freezes are "likely unconstitutional" and cause "irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country".

Last month another Republican Congressman, Eli Crane of Arizona, filed articles of impeachment against District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York.

Engelmayer had issued an order blocking most of the administration's officials, including Elon Musk and staff members of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, from accessing Treasury records. The case was brought by 19 Democratic attorneys general.

Following the ruling on Feb 8 Musk called Engelmayer "an activist posing as a judge". Since then, Republicans have called other judges who have ruled against the Trump administration political activists. Musk is also calling for such judges to be impeached.

Multiple injunctions

Two months into Trump's second term he has faced more than 15 injunctions. In Joe Biden's four years as president 14 court injunctions were imposed on actions he took, all by Republican-appointed judges. A study by Harvard University last year found that of the injunctions against Trump in his first term, from 2017 to 2020, 90 percent were issued by Democrat-appointed judges.

Trump has joined the impeachment calls of his Republican colleagues. He called Boasberg a "radical left lunatic of a judge", writing on social media, "This judge, like many of the crooked judges I am forced to appear before, should be impeached."

Following Trump's post, the chief justice of the US Supreme Court, John Roberts, issued a rare public statement, saying: "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."

The Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said Trump's attack on Boasberg has resulted in a constitutional crisis.

Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah said it takes two-thirds of a Senate vote to impeach. "And we know it's not going to happen," he said in a TV interview.

But Curtis said this is not a constitutional crisis but "a civic lesson".

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com