President Donald Trump has called for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg and the judge blocked the administration’s attempt to speed up deportations of individuals suspected of belonging to a Venezuelan gang.
The incident appeared to prompt a response from Chief Justice John Roberts and raise questions about tension between the second and third branches of government. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said shortly after Trump’s March 18 statement on TruthSocial.
The administration alleged that Boasberg intruded on the executive branch’s authority when he attempted to block the president’s proclamation that members of the Tren de Aragua (TDA) gang were subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. It has appealed his order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Venezuelan nationals had sued the administration and expressed concern it violated Boasberg’s order by deporting individuals on various flights. The administration said that Boasberg’s written order came after some foreign gang members had already been removed.
In court on March 17, Boasberg seemed incredulous in response to DOJ’s arguments about the validity of an oral order he issued and pushed back on the administration’s suggestion that his authority didn’t extend beyond U.S. airspace.
The administration asked an appeals court to remove Boasberg from the case and attempted to cancel the March 17 hearing. In a motion to Boasberg, it stated that the court should “de-escalate the grave incursions on executive branch authority that have already arisen.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on March 17 that the administration didn’t disobey the court’s order. “The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TDA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory,” she said, before adding that courts don’t have jurisdiction over the president’s “conduct of foreign affairs.”
Boasberg ordered the administration to provide the court with more information. While the administration provided some information, it also said there was “no justification to order the provision of additional information, and that doing so would be inappropriate.”
The DOJ added that while its appeal was pending, the government “should not be required to disclose sensitive information bearing on national security and foreign relations.”
—Sam Dorman
BOOKMARKS
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—Stacy Robinson
