'Desperate measures': Johnson seeks to 'eliminate an entire district court' to help Trump
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has a solution to help President Donald Trump circumvent a federal judge striking down his executive actions — getting rid of the court altogether.
That's according to a Tuesday article in NBC News, which reports the speaker floated the proposal in response to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruling against Trump's invoking of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport immigrants without due process. Speaker Johnson reminded reporters that Congress has the ability to legislate new district courts into existence — and the power to abolish them.
"We do have the authority over the federal courts, as you know. We can eliminate an entire district court. We have power of funding over the courts and all these other things," Johnson said. "But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Congress is going to act."
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The speaker later clarified that his remark wasn't necessarily a statement of intent, but rather an acknowledgement of Congress' powers under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, which established the federal judiciary. As NBC News reports, the last time Congress eliminated a federal court was in 1913, when it got rid of the Commerce Court and moved its cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals. And in 1982, Congress established the Article I Court of Federal Claims and the Article III U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Johnson would face an uphill battle to eliminate a federal court. In addition to needing the support of the entirety of the House Republican Conference (which is questionable given Johnson's paper-thin GOP majority), any legislation to abolish a court would also need 60 votes in the U.S. Senate to bypass a filibuster. Republicans have a 53-seat majority and would need still seven Democrats to join them.
As NBC reports, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) previously hinted at legislative solutions to help Trump ram executive actions through the courts, though he didn't offer specific details. Rep, Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has proposed a bill that would prevent U.S. District Court judges (like Boasberg) from issuing nationwide injunctions.
Trump is using his bully pulpit to call for Boasberg's impeachment after the judge questioned Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act, which hasn't been invoked since World War II. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) last week introduced articles of impeachment targeting Boasberg. Actually removing Boasberg from the bench is an even heavier lift than the Senate's 60-vote threshold for legislative filibusters — two-thirds of the Senate would have to vote for conviction, meaning all Republicans would need 14 Democratic votes to successfully impeach a federal judge.
Click here to read NBC's report in its entirety.