Senate Republicans are swinging hard with a call to bench Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia over allegations of judicial overreach.
The Washington Examiner reported that a coalition of GOP senators has penned a sharp letter to D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, urging the administrative suspension of Boasberg while a House impeachment inquiry unfolds, citing a laundry list of alleged missteps in handling FBI investigations and cases tied to President Donald Trump.
Let’s rewind to January 2021, when Boasberg sentenced former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith to probation—no jail time—after Clinesmith admitted to forging an email to justify surveillance of a 2016 Trump campaign official, Carter Page.
Fast forward to 2023, and Boasberg was ordering former Vice President Mike Pence to testify before a grand jury about interactions with Trump leading up to the January 6, 2021, riot—a move that raised eyebrows among conservatives wary of judicial bias.
Then, in March 2024, Boasberg issued a nationwide injunction blocking Trump’s plan to deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, prompting Trump himself to call for impeachment over concerns about public safety.
Around the same time, the Supreme Court slapped down Boasberg in a case dubbed Trump v J.G.G., ruling he “lacked jurisdiction” to oversee a suit involving deportation flights that he had assigned to himself, a decision that only fueled GOP frustration.
On November 4, 2024, Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas dropped a bombshell, filing impeachment articles against Boasberg, accusing him of improperly greenlighting nondisclosure orders to tech giants and cellular providers as part of the Biden administration’s FBI “Arctic Frost” investigation.
This probe, as uncovered by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa with help from whistleblowers and Justice Department records, targeted at least 13 members of Congress with subpoenas tied to investigations that preceded two federal indictments against Trump.
Recent disclosures revealed that former special counsel Jack Smith’s team issued a staggering 197 subpoenas under “Arctic Frost,” targeting over 430 Republican figures, organizations, and donors, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whose phone metadata was sought.
The senators’ letter claims Boasberg enabled Smith to issue these nondisclosure orders, preventing lawmakers from even knowing their communications were snatched up—a move they argue erodes trust in the judiciary.
They didn’t hold back, asserting Boasberg should be “administratively suspended pending formal impeachment by the House of Representatives and, if impeached, an impeachment trial by the Senate,” as stated by Sens. Schmitt, Mike Lee, Tommy Tuberville, Lindsey Graham, Kevin Cramer, and Bill Hagerty in their appeal to Srinivasan.
Adding to the pile, a misconduct complaint filed by the Justice Department on July 28, 2024, alleges Boasberg raised unsolicited concerns at a Judicial Conference meeting about the administration potentially ignoring federal court rulings—a curious overstep for a judge meant to uphold impartiality.
The senators pointed to a D.C. Circuit ruling in In re: Sealed Case that reversed Boasberg for wrongly granting government nondisclosure orders against X Corp, alongside the Supreme Court’s rebuke, painting a pattern of questionable judgment.
Now, they’re pressing Srinivasan for updates on the misconduct complaint, demanding Boasberg’s suspension and removal from the Circuit Judicial Council if a special committee investigation is underway, citing the precedent of a former Louisiana judge suspended during an impeachment probe over bribery allegations.