WASHINGTON D.C. – In a significant statement today, House Speaker Mike Johnson asserted that the impeachment of federal judges remains a possibility, emphasizing that such action is “never off the table if it’s merited.” His remarks came in response to questions regarding Congressman Darrell Issa’s bill aimed at limiting the power of individual judges to issue nationwide injunctions.

 

When pressed directly on whether judicial impeachments were off the table for the remainder of this Congress, Speaker Johnson firmly stated, “No. Impeachments are never off the table if it’s merited. End the judicial coup.”

 

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Expanding on his position, the Speaker acknowledged the historical rarity of judicial impeachments in the United States, noting that only 15 federal judges have been impeached throughout the nation’s history. “I mean, there may be some that I feel merit that, but you’ve got to get the votes for it, right? And it’s a very high burden and, frankly, the bar is high crimes and misdemeanors,” Johnson explained.

 

He pointed to the last federal judge to be impeached, recalling it involved “taking cash in an envelope,” suggesting that any impeachable offense would need to be similarly “brazen” and an “open crime that everybody can agree to.”

 

Speaker Johnson also addressed the practical challenges of pursuing judicial impeachment, even if articles of impeachment were to pass the House.

“Even if we could get an impeachment article through the House on a federal judge, it’s unlikely that they would be tried and convicted in the Senate on that with the divided number we have,” he conceded.

 

Despite the hurdles associated with impeachment, the Speaker underscored the urgency of addressing concerns he raised about the judiciary. He cited statistics claiming that a significant majority of national injunctions against a president in the last century were issued against the Trump administration, with 90% of those originating from judges appointed by Democrats, whom he suggested were “activists” engaging in “venue shopping.”

“We’ve done everything within our power to solve that problem,” Johnson stated, highlighting Congressman Issa’s “No Rulings Act” as a key legislative response. This bill seeks to prohibit a single judge from issuing nationwide injunctions to halt administration policies.

 

“I think that is a very common-sense standard and one that would kind of get back to the original intent and eliminate the ability of just one activist to just stop everything,” he argued.

 

The Speaker expressed hope for bipartisan support for the bill in the Senate, emphasizing that “it shouldn’t be a partisan issue. It should be something that every American agrees with.”

Johnson concluded by stressing the importance of restoring public trust in the justice system, asserting that it had been “eroded over the last four years under the Biden Administration.”

 

He called on lawmakers to ensure “equal justice under law,” warning that a lack of faith in the judiciary undermines the foundations of the republic.

“If you don’t have the people’s faith in the system of justice and fair judges, then you don’t have anything in a republic, and that’s why this is so important, and we’ll keep advancing,” he affirmed.