Jordan sees 'another legislative remedy' besides judicial impeachment

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is planning hearings on judges who block Trump administration actions and eyeing legislation to place limits on judicial power as calls to impeach those judges ramp up.

Those actions, Jordan suggested in a CNN interview on Wednesday, could be “another legislative remedy” to address the matter.

Impeachments that President Trump, Elon Musk, and GOP lawmakers are calling for have virtually no chance of removing any of the judges. Even if the razor-thin House majority impeached a judge, it would take support from at least 14 Democrats to convict in the Senate.

But Jordan is not completely ruling out impeachment, a process that has traditionally moved through the House Judiciary Committee.

“Everything is on the table. We're considering all options. That's why we passed legislation,” Jordan said. “There may be a legislative -- another legislative remedy we want to look at.”

Trump called for District Court Judge James Boasberg’s impeachment this week, as the administration argues that his ruling blocking the president from invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to swiftly deport Venezuelan migrants was not lawful.

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) introduced a resolution to impeach Bosaberg this week. And several other Republicans have introduced impeachment resolutions against other judges who blocked other Trump administration actions.

Jordan said he plans to have hearings “over the next several weeks,” bringing in outside experts.

And he pointed to a bill, the No Rogue Rulings Act, that would place limitations on district court judges issuing orders providing injunctive relief decisions that affect the entire country outside their districts. That bill advanced out of the Judiciary Committee after a markup earlier this month.

Jordan said on CNN that nationwide injunctions have been far more common under Trump than under Biden.

“It’s why two weeks ago, the Judiciary Committee, we passed legislation which said when a federal district judge in Timbuktu, California, issues an injunction, it should only apply to the parties of the case in that respective jurisdiction not apply nationwide,” Jordan said. “We passed it through the committee. We’ll try to look to pass it on the House floor and move it through the process.”

Jordan said he has not talked to Trump about Bosaberg, but that he expected to see the president later in the week.

Asked if he thought Trump’s call for impeachment was personal, Jordan said: “I don't know.”

“I think it's probably because President Trump is doing exactly what he told the voters he was going to do, and you got a judge who says, turn the plane around, bring the bad guys back to America. Maybe the dumbest thing I've ever heard,” Jordan said.

“And frankly, when the American people hear this, they're like, what is this judge doing? The president runs the executive branch. He's the one who put his name on a ballot, got elected. He's entitled to make these kind of decisions and not have some judge jump into the executive branch function and say that he can't do it,” Jordan added.