Congressional Republicans are searching for a way to discipline or rein in federal judges, whom they believe have exceeded their authority.
House Republicans will have to wrestle with a push by some conservatives to impeach judges who have ruled against President Donald Trump.
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, has drafted an article of impeachment for Judge James Boasberg over his suspension of some deportations.
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Some conservatives are pushing impeachment for Boasberg and several other judges they believe exceeded their authority.
The House Republican leadership does not want to deal with impeachment, and it’s unclear if the House would ever have the votes to impeach. Conservatives could try to go over the heads of the GOP brass and put impeachment on the floor by making the resolution privileged. However, Republican leaders could try to euthanize that effort by moving to send the impeachment articles to committee. Thus, the vote is on the motion to send the articles to committee, not on impeachment.
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That said, the administration appears to prefer a remedy offered by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. Issa’s bill would limit the scope of rulings by these judges.
Moreover, it’s unclear that the House would ever have the votes to impeach, and even if they did, a Senate trial would end without conviction. It takes 67 votes to convict in an impeachment trial.
