In a Tuesday morning rant on Truth Social, President Donald Trump called for a federal judge to be impeached after the judge had issued orders — which were blatantly defied by Trump — halting some of the president’s immigration actions.
Federal District Judge James Boasberg held a fact-finding hearing on Monday after around 200 Venezuelan immigrants — whom the Trump administration had alleged, without evidence, were gang members — were deported from the U.S. to an El Salvador prison. The deportations occurred after Boasberg had verbally instructed the administration on Saturday to halt all deportation flights, and turn around any flights that were already in motion, after ruling that Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 should be blocked, at least temporarily.
When Boasberg asked lawyers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday why they so flagrantly defied his instructions, they said that Boasberg’s order could be disregarded since the migrants were already over international waters.
The judge condemned that reasoning.
“You knew in the morning [on Saturday] that there would be a hearing at 5 p.m., so any plane that you put into the air in or around that time you knew that I was having a hearing about,” Boasberg reminded lawyers for the administration. “So when I said directly to turn those planes around, the idea that my written order was pithier, that this could be disregarded, that’s a heck of a stretch.”
In response to Boasberg’s hearing, Trump issued a statement on Truth Social demanding that the judge be removed from his post.
Trump didn’t mention Boasberg’s name specifically, referring to him instead as a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge” and a “a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama.” Trump also claimed that Boasberg’s orders were illegitimate because he didn’t win any election to his position — a statement that is true of all federal judges, who are appointed by presidents and approved by the Senate.
Trump further claimed that his actions were more legitimate than Boasberg’s orders because he won “AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE” in the 2024 election, which is also false — Trump’s popular vote victory was not a majority approval.
“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ [sic] I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump added.
Trump’s statement is a direct challenge to the concept of checks and balances within the federal government, specifically the check on the executive branch by the judiciary, which is able to limit the president’s actions when they are outside of the law or constitutional framework. Trump’s post also comes on the heels of his administration arguing, within a brief submitted to the Supreme Court last week, that district judges cannot impose national injunctions. The brief related to blocks of Trump’s executive order on ending birthright citizenship.
While conservative lawmakers in Congress are now opposed to such checks, they were perfectly fine with them (and often celebrated them) when judges sought to overturn or block executive actions during the Biden administration.
In a statement reacting to Trump’s post, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back on his calls to impeach a judge who rules against a sitting president.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” Roberts said.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today during our fundraiser. We have 6 days to add 379 new monthly donors. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.