House GOP Moving to Impeach Judge Who Halted Trump Order

On Tuesday, President Trump called for the impeachment of James Boasberg, the chief judge at DC's District Court who recently ruled against the Trump administration's deportation orders—drawing a rare rebuke from Supreme Court Justice John Roberts. House Republicans are now moving toward impeachment anyway, with Trump supporters saying Boasberg's ruling to halt deportations of Venezuelan migrants was unlawful, as authority for the deportations is granted to the president under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, per the Hill.

• Impeachment article: Texas Rep. Brandon Gill, who introduced the resolution on Tuesday, alleged that Boasberg "overstepped his authority, compromised the impartiality of the judiciary, and created a constitutional crisis," per Axios. Gill also accused the judge in the impeachment article of trying to "seize power from the Executive branch and interfere with the will of the American people," per the Hill.

• The flights: Boasberg had ordered the flights carrying about 250 migrants back to the United States as he mulled the legality of Trump tapping the 1798 act for the deportations; the planes continued on their way to El Salvador instead. The Trump administration has said that Boasberg's order was too late, as the planes were already over international waters.
• An 'obscure' law: NPR has more on the Alien Enemies Act, which is typically only used during wartime or an invasion to detain or deport nationals of enemy nations. Trump has depicted immigrants as invaders to justify his moves. The president's directive for the Venezuelan deportations is ostensibly due to their ties to the Tren de Aragua prison gang, though it's unclear just how many of the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador are actually linked to the gang.
• Similar moves: The Hill notes that Boasberg isn't the only judge being targeted with impeachment threats due to rulings that didn't favor the Trump administration, including decisions against Elon Musk's DOGE. Republican lawmakers in Tennessee, Arizona, and Georgia have also introduced articles of impeachment against various judges.
• Endgame? In Boasberg's case, the Hill says an impeachment conviction leading to Boasberg's removal is "highly unlikely," as more than a dozen Senate Democrats would need to be on board with it.

More here on Boasberg himself. (More James Boasberg stories.)