The House of Representatives has, for the time being, completed its work on the federal funding bills. The last ones are on their way to the Senate, and now the House is turning its attention to other matters - like impeaching some rogue judges. A "first on Fox" report on Fox News informs us that the Speaker of the House, Republican Mike Johnson (LA-04) is reportedly on board with the effort.
Things may be about to get very spicy.
House conservatives are reviving various pushes to impeach judges accused of blocking President Donald Trump's agenda after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gave his tacit approval earlier this week.
"I just spoke to him on the House floor, and he's still in support, so we're going to push to move forward on at least one," Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital in the early evening on Thursday.
Ogles was among the conservative Trump allies who led the push to impeach judges last year as the administration engaged in legal battles with federal courts across the country over various rulings.
One is a good start. Of course, in some jurisdictions, one can't swing a cat by the tail without hitting a leftist activist judge, so the House could have a lot of work cut out for it just cleaning up the federal courts. Still, the effort has to begin somewhere, and Rep. Ogles has at least one target picked out.
He previously introduced impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge John Bates for blocking a Trump executive order targeting transgender recognition under federal law, as well as District Judge Theodore Chuang after his ruling to stop a crackdown on foreign aid by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Neither of those impeachment resolutions or others targeting several other judges went anywhere at the time, however. House GOP leaders made clear they believed impeachment was an impractical way to deal with what Republicans saw as "activist judges" trying to influence policy rather than interpret law.
Johnson and other leaders instead favored a bill by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., to limit district judges' ability to issue nationwide injunctions. That bill passed the House along partisan lines last year but was never taken up in the Senate.
But the speaker sounded more enthusiastic about impeachment during his press conference on Wednesday, telling reporters, "I'm for it."
The Speaker's approval may not be technically required to move ahead, but Speaker Johnson's being "for it" could grease a lot of wheels. With any luck, some of the grease will go under the wheels of Judge Bates' chair, to slide him off the bench.
Read More: Hawley, Schmitt Torch Boasberg As They Lay Groundwork for Impeachment
Cruz Slams Judge Boardman, Demands Impeachment Over Soft Sentence for Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin
Speaker Johnson apparently has a target in mind as well.
He named U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, specifically, who's been targeted by Republicans after rulings on several key immigration cases involving Trump's policies, including flying migrants to El Salvador and other countries instead of detaining them in the U.S.
Of course, any of these efforts still faces that high bar in the Senate. Impeachment in and of itself requires a majority vote of the House, but in the Senate, a two-thirds vote is required to convict and remove a judge, the same bar that is in place for impeaching a president.
Let's be honest. That's probably not going to happen. The current balance in the Senate is 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two independents, who caucus with the Democrats. That's not enough Republican votes for a conviction, and it's far from a sure thing that all the Senate Republicans would vote to convict - yes, Senator Murkowski (R-ish - AK), I'm looking at you.
Impeaching judges will be interesting to watch. Reputations could be damaged in the process, hopefully, in the case of some of these judges, irreparably so. But unless the GOP can somehow manage, in this fall's midterm election, to bring in a large enough majority to assure conviction, then these judges will likely remain in place. And bringing in a Republican Senate majority of that size would be, frankly, earth-shattering.
Editor's Note: Radical leftist judges are doing everything they can to hamstring President Trump's agenda to make America great again.
Help us hold these corrupt judges accountable for their unconstitutional rulings. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member