Fight to impeach judge will be up to Johnson: White House

White House deputy chief of staff James Blair said it will be up to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) whether the federal judge who sought to block Trump administration deportation flights over the weekend will be impeached as the administration has called for.

“I think it’ll be up to the Speaker to figure out what can be passed or not,” Blair said on Politico’s “Playbook Deep Dive” podcast. “It’s the Speaker’s job and I won’t speak for what the Speaker’s opinion is.”

Blair said President Trump is highlighting a “critical issue” with his criticism of district judge James Boasberg.

“He is doing what he does, which is shine a big old spotlight on something that otherwise may be obscure or only sold through the mainstream media in a way that misrepresents his position,” Blair said of Trump.

Blair’s remarks come as the Trump administration battles Boasberg after he ordered the flights carrying nearly 300 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua not to leave the U.S. or to turn around if they already had.

Boasberg has pressed the administration on the timing of the flights after the American Civil Liberties Union suggested the administration defied the court order and deported the members anyway. The administration has said it complied because the flights had left U.S. territory by the time the written order was issued and cited national security concerns as a reason not to share more details on the matter.

Trump and his allies have all sharply criticized the judge for the order and a fiery hearing on Monday in which Boasberg lashed out at the administration for refusing to answer questions, calling for him to be impeached.

Boasberg extended the deadline for the administration to return the requested information until mid-day Thursday, even as Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed he had “no right” to be asking those questions.

The administration’s push for Boasberg to be impeached has raised concerns and questions about executive versus judicial power, particularly as he’s not the first judge whose ouster the GOP has called for after they pushed back on the administration's actions.

Blair was questioned by Politico’s Rachael Bade about the administration’s remarks that the court does not have the power to stop executive action.

“So where can the courts actually check the president’s power?” Bade said.

“It’s ultimately the Supreme Court, I guess, will be the ones to answer that question. Because there should be recourse. There is a recourse system through impeachment,” Blair replied.

Bade asked if Blair believed there would be a full impeachment trial of Boasberg, if the matter gets that far, and what it would look like without Democratic support.

“I would say that I doubt … that a bunch of floor time will be spent on something if they feel strongly like they can’t get the votes,” he admitted.

Bade said it then sounded more like a “messaging thing” from the administration trying to make a point, as they know the impeachment articles won’t go anywhere.

“To be clear, I think the president is right. We should impeach activist, partisan judges,” Blair said. “The question is, will that happen, which you’re asking. I think that remains to be seen.”

The Hill has reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.