Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican from Arizona, submitted a resolution on Monday to remove Judge James Boasberg from office after he blocked President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts.
The chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order last month trying to block Trump from sending five illegal aliens, who were alleged Tren de Aragua members, to the CECOT prison in El Salvador.
Other members of Congress have since called for Boasberg’s impeachment, with Rep. Brandon Gill, a Republican from Texas, submitting legislation to that effect.
But Biggs submitted a separate resolution and asserted that Congress already has the authority to remove Boasberg without impeaching him.
“Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to establish all federal courts inferior to the U.S. Supreme Court, and establishes that judges may only hold their positions during good behavior,” a press release from Biggs’ office said.
“This provision is separate and distinct from Congress’s authority to impeach civil officers for ‘Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors,’” the document added.
Because Boasberg “knowingly and unjustly interfered with President Trump’s execution of foreign policy and targeted President Trump for partisan purposes and political gain,” Biggs’ office said that “Under the Good Behavior Clause, Boasberg’s actions constitute misbehavior and subject him to removal from office.”
“We cannot stand by while activist judges who incorrectly believe they have more authority than the duly-elected President of the United States, impose their own political agenda on the American people,” Biggs remarked in a statement.
The lawmaker noted that removing Boasberg with a resolution is more likely to succeed than an impeachment.
Is Rep. Biggs right – can Judge Boasberg be removed without being impeached?
“I have cosponsored resolutions to impeach Judge Boasberg. His removal from office via impeachment, however, will undoubtedly be blocked by Democrats in the Senate, since it requires a two-thirds majority,” he added.
“My resolution, on the other hand, asserts, pursuant to Article III, Section 1, that rogue judges may be removed the same way we confirm them—by a simple majority.”
The resolution from Biggs indeed called itself an “article of removal exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America.”
The legislation contended that Boasberg violated his oath by interfering with Trump’s prerogatives as head of the executive branch.
Biggs noted in the resolution that Congress has “the authority to create, eliminate, and regulate all Federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court.”
That means Congress also has the “authority to remove a judge who fails to remain in good behavior while in office.”
Biggs added in his press release that “Congress has a duty to fulfill the promises we’ve made to the American people.”
Those promises include “defending the President’s authority to enforce our laws.”
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