The Texas Republican seeking to impeach the federal judge who attempted to block President Donald Trump’s deportation flights isn’t backing down. But he said Monday he has no immediate plans to force a House vote on ousting U.S. District Judge James Boasberg.
Rep. Brandon Gill said in an interview Monday that he spoke with Speaker Mike Johnson about the matter and the two “discussed a range of options” about how to move forward. While Gill could call up his resolution targeting Boasberg as a privileged matter, he said he isn’t seeking to fast-track the effort at the moment.
He has, however, secured three new GOP cosponsors: Reps. Mary Miller of Illinois, John McGuire of Virginia and Michael Rulli of Ohio, bringing the total to 19.
Gill still said he viewed impeachment as the “proper remedy” for Boasberg’s “lawless and unconstitutional ruling” against Trump that’s blocking a key piece of his agenda: “We’re going to continue pushing impeachment.”
But Gill’s decision not to immediately force a floor vote gives Johnson more flexibility to find other release valves for the mounting pressure from Trump, billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk and the GOP base to pursue judicial impeachments.
Separately, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said in an interview Monday that he also won’t push to fast-track his push to impeach another judge who recently ruled against Trump.
Johnson and GOP leaders don’t have the votes to impeach Boasberg or any other judges, let alone the 67 Senate votes needed to convict and remove them. The speaker confirmed to reporters earlier Monday that he is looking “at all the alternatives that we have to address this problem,” including legislation to rein in nationwide injunctions.
GOP leaders are planning a House vote next week on a bill from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to curb national injunctions. Gill said he supported Issa’s legislation and that he was “very happy” to see the speaker move it quickly toward a floor vote.
