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MaddowBlog-Cruz backs impeachment effort targeting judges who've ruled against the White House
Polling suggests most Americans oppose impeaching judges over anti-Trump rulings. Ted Cruz and some of his GOP colleagues want to see it happen anyway.
Sen Ted Cruz backs impeachment effort targeting judges who’ve ruled against the White House.
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) 2026-01-08T21:14:17.510Z
In hearing Cruz said Judges Boasberg and Boardman “meet the standard for impeachment and for conviction and removal from office.†www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/cruz-backs-impeachment-effort-targeting-judges-whove-ruled-against-the-white-house
In the U.S. political system, senators can’t initiate impeachment proceedings; only House members can. That said, senators can encourage representatives to launch impeachment efforts, and on Wednesday, that’s precisely what several Senate Republicans did. NBC News reported:
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who called and chaired the hearing, argued that Boasberg and Boardman “meet the standard for impeachment and for conviction and removal from office.” Similarly, Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri added that he sees Boasberg as “the embodiment of a rogue judge.”
To date, no congressional Republicans have presented any evidence of Boasberg committing high crimes or engaging in misconduct......
At this point, there’s nothing to suggest GOP leaders are planning to bring any of these efforts to the House floor for a vote, and there’s no reason to assume the impeachment resolutions will pass. What’s more, even if the House did impeach any or all of these jurists, it would take 67 votes in the Senate to remove them from the federal bench, which is effectively an impossibility.
These obvious attempts at intimidating the judiciary, in other words, almost certainly won’t work.
Last year, a Marquette University Law School poll found that 70% of Americans opposed impeaching federal judges over anti-Trump rulings. There is, however, often a big gap between what the public wants and what Republican officials decide to do. Watch this space.
Republican senators on Wednesday increased their scrutiny of federal judges whose rulings they’ve opposed, with some pushing for them to be impeached.
Attention at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on two judges: Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg and Maryland-based Deborah Boardman, both of whom have fallen [afoul] of MAGA world.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who called and chaired the hearing, argued that Boasberg and Boardman “meet the standard for impeachment and for conviction and removal from office.” Similarly, Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri added that he sees Boasberg as “the embodiment of a rogue judge.”
To date, no congressional Republicans have presented any evidence of Boasberg committing high crimes or engaging in misconduct......
At this point, there’s nothing to suggest GOP leaders are planning to bring any of these efforts to the House floor for a vote, and there’s no reason to assume the impeachment resolutions will pass. What’s more, even if the House did impeach any or all of these jurists, it would take 67 votes in the Senate to remove them from the federal bench, which is effectively an impossibility.
These obvious attempts at intimidating the judiciary, in other words, almost certainly won’t work.
Last year, a Marquette University Law School poll found that 70% of Americans opposed impeaching federal judges over anti-Trump rulings. There is, however, often a big gap between what the public wants and what Republican officials decide to do. Watch this space.