House GOP leaders look to hold off push to impeach judges by prioritizing hearings, bill to limit reach of rulings

When House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan sat with President Donald Trump at the NCAA wrestling championship in Philadelphia earlier this month, it was only a matter of time before they discussed the party’s brewing effort to impeach federal judges seen as blocking the president’s agenda.

When House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan sat with President Donald Trump at the NCAA wrestling championship in Philadelphia earlier this month, it was only a matter of time before they discussed the party’s brewing effort to impeach federal judges seen as blocking the president’s agenda. Trump and Elon Musk have publicly pushed GOP lawmakers to impeach federal judges impeding the administration – a call that a number of far-right GOP lawmakers have seized on, introducing impeachment resolutions in the House. But House GOP leadership has signaled in recent days that they don’t have the votes to greenlight the effort and are pursuing other avenues. That’s, in short, the message Jordan conveyed to the president, telling Trump his committee would be holding a hearing on the federal judiciary in the coming days, according to a source familiar with the conversation. In the week since, Jordan worked with House GOP leaders on a game plan that prioritized legislation, a commitment to look at the funding for district courts through the appropriations process and public oversight through hearings. “All three of those options are on the table and we’re going to pursue all three of them,” the Ohio Republican told CNN. Impeaching judges is exceedingly rare, and the calls to remove the jurists who have ruled against Trump policies have already prompted Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a notable public statement rebuking the rhetoric. It remains to be seen whether Republican leadership’s legislative approach is enough to keep the president and a growing chorus of lawmakers satisfied, or whether the party will ultimately steer itself into a constitutional crisis over the role of the federal judiciary.