Republican Rep. Brandon Gill (Texas) said he would be pushing to impeach a federal judge who ordered the Trump administration to halt deportations of Venezuelan gang members over the weekend.
“I’ll be filing Articles of Impeachment against activist judge James Boasberg this week,” Gill said in a post on X.
On Saturday, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. It’s just the third time the wartime act has been used and the first time since World War II. The order was intended to target members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang, who Trump said could be arrested, restrained and removed from the country.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg had earlier ordered a temporary block on the deportation of five of the group’s members, which prompted Trump to issue the proclamation.
The judge then verbally ordered the planes carrying the members to not leave the U.S. or turn around if they had already left.
The Trump administration has stated that the plane was already out of U.S. jurisdiction and the members were unloaded in El Salvador after Secretary of State Marco Rubio secured a deal with the country’s president for a prisoner swap.
The matter has become a more complicated legal battle, as the American Civil Liberties Union questioned if the White House violated the judge’s order. The administration insists it did nothing illegal.
Gill is not alone in pushing for a judge who disagreed with Trump to be ousted.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) filed articles of impeachment against Judge Paul Engelmayer in February after he limited the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to sensitive data at the Treasury Department, Axios reported.
Several other lawmakers since then have looked to push out the judges that have gone against the administration’s sweeping moves since taking back the White House.
DOGE leader Elon Musk last month called for a “wave” of judicial impeachments as various judges check the power of his agency and the Trump administration.
