The House Judiciary Committee is preparing for a hearing early next week on federal judges blocking actions by the Trump administration as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) continues to temper the flames of impeachment fanned by hard-line Republicans in his conference.
The powerful committee will hold a hearing on the judges on April 1, a source familiar confirmed to the Washington Examiner. Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) told reporters on Tuesday that he had an idea of who the witnesses would be, but he is not ready to announce them at this time. Johnson said, “we’ll see” when asked if the judges could be called as witnesses.
Republicans have zeroed in on federal judges for blocking executive actions such as illegal immigrant deportations, arguing they are “radical activist” judges who have overstepped their judicial authority. Hard-line Republicans, such as Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), have heeded calls from President Donald Trump and filed articles to impeach judges such as James E. Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York.
Impeachment is a complex and rare process that requires a high voting threshold to pass the articles out of the House and Senate chambers. Republicans have not overwhelmingly agreed that federal judges should be tried for high crimes and misdemeanors in Congress, so leadership is eyeing the Judiciary Committee as the proper place to hold hearings on judicial overreach.
Johnson told Republicans during their weekly closed-door conference meeting on Tuesday that the work would be done within the committee rather than bringing Gill’s bill to the floor, where it could fail if enough centrist Republicans opted to vote against it.
The speaker said during a press conference that he spoke with Jordan regarding the judge hearings and confirmed the testimonies would happen next week to “highlight these abuses.”
“It is a dangerous trend, and it violates equal justice under law, that critical principle,” Johnson said of the injunctions against Trump’s orders. “It violates our system itself. It violates the separation of powers. When a judge thinks that they can enjoin something that a president is doing, that the American people voted for, that is not what the Founders intended.”
“So, there’s a natural tension between the branches of the government, and we’re working through that,” the speaker added. “The Judiciary Committee is looking at alternatives.”
Besides hearings, another alternative is Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) bill, the No Rogue Rulings Act of 2025. The legislation, which was already voted out of committee, would limit the power of district judges to impose nationwide injunctions. It is set for a vote next week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said on Monday.
Johnson also unveiled another avenue Republicans could take to push back against the judges — eliminating courts altogether.
“We do have authority over the federal courts, as you know,” the speaker said. “We can eliminate an entire district, or — we have the power of funding over the courts and all these other things. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Congress is going to act, so stay tuned for that.”
Even if the impeachment articles or Issa’s bill were able to squeak through the House, Republicans would be in real trouble in the Senate.
Issa’s bill would fall under the normal 60-vote threshold for the filibuster, which may be difficult but not impossible to do if centrist Democrats in swing states vote to advance the measure. However, in cases of impeachment articles, a conviction and removal of a federal judge requires a two-thirds majority or 67 senators. Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate.
TOUGH ROAD TO IMPEACHING JUDGES RUNS THROUGH HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Democrats were quick to blast Republicans for wasting the chambers’ time with the threat of impeachment articles to gain Trump’s favor.
“Not a single federal judge is getting impeached,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said on Monday. “Drop it. It’s not happening. You don’t even have the votes in the House of Representatives, and it’s definitely not happening in the United States Senate. Why are Republicans obsessed with trying to please Donald Trump, as opposed to trying to help the American people?”