"He said, plainly, "I'm for it." To be sure, Johnson offered a little in the way of throat-clearing. Impeachment would be "an extreme measure," he acknowledged, adding "we'll see where it goes." Seems like that whole we-don't-have-67-votes issue is rearing its head. But then he doubled down, suggesting that some judges have strayed "so far outside the bounds of where they're supposed to operate" that Congress should "lay down the law" and "make an example of some of the egregious abuses.""
"That rhetoric might play well on right-wing cable news, but it's also profoundly dangerous. There's a sharp increase in threats against federal judges - up 327% in the Trump II era. Bullying judges has become a mainstream tactic that Johnson is playing into, floating impeachment casually and often without any plausible allegation of impeachable conduct. That casualness is precisely the problem. When leaders normalize the idea that judges should fear reprisal for doing their jobs, the most unhinged actors hear permission, not caution."
The threat environment for federal judges has worsened, with threats rising dramatically in the Trump II era. Mike Johnson publicly endorsed pursuing impeachment against judges who rule against the Trump administration, calling impeachment "an extreme measure" yet saying "I'm for it" and urging Congress to "make an example" of alleged abuses. That rhetoric coincides with a 327% increase in threats, record U.S. Marshals investigations, and heightened security. Casual talk of impeachment without plausible allegations normalizes reprisal, emboldens dangerous actors, and turns bullying judges into a mainstream political tactic.
Read at Above the Law
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]