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Congress Reacts to the Judicial Actions Slowing Progress on Trump’s Agenda

March 20, 2025

As conflict between President Donald Trump and a cadre of federal judges is heating up, Congress is weighing whether or not to act on the matter. So far, several Republicans in both the House of Representatives and the Senate have discussed measures that could be taken in response to the judicial actions currently curtailing the president’s agenda. The conflict has been brewing for over a month, as federal judge after federal judge — typically at the U.S. District Court level — has issued various injunctions blocking some of the most significant of Trump’s mass of executive orders.

One of the most high-profile of these recent court orders came from Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Late last week, Boasberg ordered that U.S. planes deporting at least 250 members of the Tren de Aragua criminal terrorist organization return to the U.S. and asserted that the president could not invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. In response, Trump called for Boasberg to be impeached, resulting in a rare public rebuke from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who suggested that the Trump administration should focus its energies on the appeals process rather than efforts to impeach a federal judge.

Following Trump’s call for impeachment, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) introduced articles of impeachment against Boasberg. The bill argues that the D.C. judge ignored the binding rulings of the Supreme Court and “illegitimately tried to substitute his own judgment for that of the elected President of the United States, thereby usurping the role of the Executive and unilaterally taking upon himself the power and authority of the President.” Boasberg’s conduct, the bill says, “jeopardizes the safety of the nation, represents an abuse of judicial power, and is detrimental to the orderly functioning of the judiciary.”

Other House Republicans have subsequently jumped aboard the impeachment wagon. Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.) co-sponsored Gill’s impeachment bill, declaring, “The American people voted for President Trump’s agenda. Not Judge James Boasberg’s. We must hold these activist judges responsible for their executive overreach.” Without directly naming impeachment, Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) stated, “We have sitting federal judges quoting the musical Hamilton instead of the Constitution. These are radical activists unfit for the bench.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) pledged to hold congressional hearings centered on the rash of federal court orders restricting the president’s executive actions. “We’re going to hold hearings on this entire issue, the 15 injunctions that have been done in an eight-week timeframe,” Jordan insisted. He said that Congress will be “hearing from experts, talking about this whole kind of body of law, this whole situation.” The congressman said that “it’s important for us to gather information — get input on this issue,” but did not directly address impeachment hearings beyond saying, “We’re not ruling out anything.”

Others have been more hesitant about potential impeachments. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), for example, said in a social media post, “Lots of noise about impeachment. We must study every ruling & act accordingly w/ everything on the table.” He noted that even if the House were to impeach Boasberg, a Senate conviction would require the votes of 14 Democrats. He suggested instead that the House could “defund radical courts.” Responding to Roberts’s statement advising against impeachments, though, Roy emphatically stated, “Congress decide[s] impeachment. Maybe [Chief Justice] Roberts should focus on stopping purposeful leaks… or not inventing a tax out of thin air to [unconstitutionally] legislate healthcare…”

Wheels have also been turning in the Senate. Zeroing in on the scope of the injunctions used by federal judges to impede the president, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said, “Congress needs to roll back the nationwide injunction. These district court judges are out of control.” Shortly afterward, he announced he would be introducing legislation to that effect. “District Court judges have issued RECORD numbers of national injunctions against the Trump administration — a dramatic abuse of judicial authority. I will introduce legislation to stop this abuse for good,” Hawley said.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) also joined the fray, agreeing with commentary from White House Deputy Chief of Staff and top Trump advisor Stephen Miller. “The judicial tyranny must end,” Lee said simply. He also called on the Supreme Court to intervene, saying, “SCOTUS: you’re not ornamental[.] Cleanup on aisle six.” The senator also responded to Roberts’s statement on impeachment, saying, “Impeachment is a non-justiciable political question assigned by the Constitution to Congress — one of the two political branches of the U.S. government — and not to the courts[.] Frankly, I’m surprised that Chief Justice Roberts is publicly opining on such matters.”

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.



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