The White House is fully backing efforts by Republicans on Capitol Hill to impeach federal judges they say have issued partisan rulings and gone “totally rogue,” Fox News Digital reported.
A White House official told Fox News Digital that the administration is closely tracking an impeachment inquiry led by the Senate Judiciary Committee involving U.S. District Judges James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and Deborah Boardman of the U.S. District Court in Maryland.
“Left-wing, activist judges have gone totally rogue,” the official said. “They’re undermining the rule of law in service of their own radical agenda. It needs to stop. And the White House fully embraces impeachment efforts.”
The official added that President Donald Trump must be able to “lawfully implement the agenda the American people elected him on,” arguing that judges who repeatedly issue partisan rulings have abused their offices and forfeited their claim to impartiality.
Johnson: “I’m for it”
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday he would support efforts to impeach federal judges accused of improperly blocking Trump’s agenda.
Johnson acknowledged impeachment is an “extreme measure,” but said at his weekly press conference that “extreme times call for extreme measures.”
“I think some of these judges have gotten so far outside the bounds of where they’re supposed to operate,” Johnson said. “It would not be, in my view, a bad thing for Congress to lay down the law.”
His comments come as some Republicans in both the House and Senate have called for impeachment proceedings against Boasberg and Boardman. Asked directly about the push, Johnson said, “I’m for it.”
“Boasberg is one who’s been mentioned, and these are some egregious abuses,” he added.
Cruz: Judges “meet the constitutional standard for impeachment”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) earlier this month labeled Boasberg and Boardman “rogue judges,” saying they “meet the constitutional standard for impeachment” during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing.
Cruz pointed to Boardman’s sentencing decision in a case involving a man convicted on charges related to an attempted assassination plot targeting Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Cruz said the sentence—97 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release—was far below federal sentencing guidelines.
Impeachment is rare—but Republicans say the moment demands it
Johnson’s comments mark a shift from last year, when House GOP leaders signaled opposition to impeaching judges, arguing it was not a practical response to what Republicans described as judicial activism influencing administration policy.
During the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Cruz acknowledged impeachment of federal judges is unusual—only 15 have been impeached in U.S. history, most for clear-cut crimes such as bribery. But he argued that rarity should not protect judges who, in his view, abuse their authority.
“Rarer still, until now, were the deeper offenses the framers feared most—judges who, without necessarily breaking a criminal statute, violate the public trust, subvert the constitutional order or wield their office in ways that injure society itself,” Cruz said. “That is why, throughout history, Congress recognized that impeachable misconduct need not be criminal.”
Democrats push back, accuse GOP of intimidation
Democrats sharply rejected Cruz’s argument. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) accused Republicans of using impeachment threats to pressure judges who rule against Trump.
“There was a time when I’d have hoped a Senate Judiciary subcommittee would not be roped into a scheme to amplify pressure and threats against a sitting federal judge,” Whitehouse said. “But here we are.”
What happens next
Impeachment proceedings must begin in the House of Representatives, typically through the House Judiciary Committee. A spokesman for the GOP-led committee said “everything is on the table” when asked whether Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is open to pursuing impeachment.
If the House approves articles of impeachment, the case would then move to the Senate, where a two-thirds vote is required to convict and remove a judge from office. That would mean all 53 Republican senators would need to vote “guilty,” along with at least 14 Democrats—making conviction a steep uphill battle.
