Johnson Backs GOP Push to Impeach 2 Federal Judges

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he's on board with a push from the right to impeach two federal judges—though he's not promising a vote any time soon. At a Wednesday press conference, the Republican said he supports impeachment resolutions targeting Judge James Boasberg of the federal district court in Washington, DC, and Judge Deborah Boardman of the federal district court in Maryland, the Hill reports.

• "I'm for it," Johnson said, calling some of the judges' actions "egregious abuses." He stressed that impeachment is a "extreme measure" but argued that "extreme times call for extreme measures." He added that some judges have strayed "so far outside the bounds" of their role that Congress might need to "make an example." Still, Johnson stopped short of committing to floor action, saying, "We'll see where it goes."

The campaign against Boasberg and Boardman has been led by Sen. Ted Cruz and several House conservatives, who accuse the judges of violating their constitutional duties through specific rulings. Boasberg has drawn fire for a secrecy order that forced phone carriers to keep quiet for a year about subpoenas obtained by then-special counsel Jack Smith in the "Arctic Frost" probe into 2020 election interference, which swept up records from multiple members of Congress. He also previously blocked President Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport certain migrants, at one point ordering the government to turn planes around mid-flight.

Republican Rep. Brandon Gill has filed two impeachment resolutions against Boasberg, together backed by more than 40 GOP co-sponsors. Boardman, meanwhile, faces an impeachment resolution from Republican Rep. Chip Roy over her eight-year sentence for Sophie Roske, born Nicholas Roske, who traveled to Maryland intending to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Prosecutors had sought at least 30 years. In explaining the sentence, Boardman referenced a Trump-era policy requiring transgender women to be housed in male prisons, a point Roy and Cruz cite as evidence of what they call improper decision-making. Roy's resolution has 16 Republican co-sponsors.

In a hearing earlier this month, Senate Republicans argued that their House counterparts should advance impeachment articles against the two judges, Reuters reports. Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse called the hearing an "effort to try to intimidate the judiciary into not ruling against the Trump administration." Reuters notes that in US history, only 15 federal judges have been impeached by the House, almost all of them for ethical or criminal misconduct, and only eight have been convicted in the Senate.