--- title: Trump Calls for Judge in Deportations Case to Be Impeached description: Trump's latest attack on the judiciary prompted a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. canonical: https://time.com/7269156/trump-judge-boasberg-impeach/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-03-18T15:40:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2025-03-18T19:33:53.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Calls for Judge in Deportations Case to Be Impeached og:description: Trump's latest attack on the judiciary prompted a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. og:url: https://time.com/7269156/trump-judge-boasberg-impeach/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7fcfa1ed929cf376/6998c4fb1f670982a1f56327/GettyImages-2205126566.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Trump Speaks At The Department Of Justice og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Calls for Judge in Deportations Case to Be Impeached twitter:description: Trump's latest attack on the judiciary prompted a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7fcfa1ed929cf376/6998c4fb1f670982a1f56327/GettyImages-2205126566.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Calls for Judge in Deportations Case to Be Impeached, Drawing Rare Rebuke From Roberts > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f1f6ca7c-3c23-45e1-842d-e8ebf392773a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Twice a week | time.com/newsletters, September 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * D.C. Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f1f6ca7c-3c23-45e1-842d-e8ebf392773a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/subscribe?i=f1f6ca7c-3c23-45e1-842d-e8ebf392773a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's politics newsletter? D.C. Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f1f6ca7c-3c23-45e1-842d-e8ebf392773a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Deportations Set Up Crucial Test For Courts, as Some Warn of Constitutional Crisis [Watch (HLS stream): Deportations Set Up Crucial Test For Courts, as Some Warn of Constitutional Crisis](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/L6NHMl7H.m3u8) (1:26)  _Published 2025-03-18. The Trump Administration appeared to openly defy multiple court orders over the weekend, deepening concerns among Democrats and legal experts that the constitutional crisis many feared when President Donald Trump was elected has now arrived._  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Mar 18, 2025 7:33 PM UTCPublished: Mar 18, 2025 3:40 PM UTC The Trump Administration appeared to openly defy multiple court orders over the weekend, deepening concerns among Democrats and legal experts that the constitutional crisis many feared when President Donald Trump was elected has now arrived.  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Mar 18, 2025 7:33 PM UTCPublished: Mar 18, 2025 3:40 PM UTC President Trump on Tuesday escalated his campaign to discredit judges who get in his way, calling on Congress to impeach the judge at the center of a legal fight over the deportation of hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador. Trump’s brazen assault on the judicial branch drew an unusual rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Posting on his website TruthSocial, Trump called for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who ordered Trump to halt his use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants suspected of belonging to transnational criminal gangs. Despite the judge’s order, administration officials let the deportations continue in apparent defiance of the court, and flights carrying 261 people removed from the U.S. landed over the weekend in El Salvador, where the Salvadorian government says they have been imprisoned. Trump called Boasberg a “Radical Left Lunatic” and “a troublemaker and agitator.” He also mocked the idea that a federal judge could constrain his actions as President. “He didn’t WIN the popular VOTE,” Trump wrote. “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Within hours of Trump's post, Roberts issued a rare public criticism of a sitting President. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts wrote in a statement, according to the AP. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” Roberts has previously warned of the problem of judges facing threats and intimidation, including writing about the issue in his year-end report in December. “Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed,” Roberts wrote. Boasberg was appointed as a federal judge by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in March 2011\. He became the chief judge of the District Court of the District of Columbia in 2023\. Earlier in his[ career,](https://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/content/chief-judge-james-e-boasberg) Boasberg worked as a U.S. attorney specializing in homicide prosecutions and President George W. Bush appointed him in 2002 to the D.C. superior court as an associate judge presiding over civil, criminal and domestic violence cases before being named to the federal bench. Only Congress has the authority to remove a federal judge, and the process is similar to how Congress can remove a President. First the House must vote to impeach a judge, which would require a simple majority. If that succeeds, then the Senate holds a trial and votes whether to convict. A conviction requires two thirds of the votes in the Senate to pass. In the past 250 years, Congress has impeached 15 federal judges, and the Senate has convicted only eight of them, according to a tally by the Administrative [Office](https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/reports/handbooks-manuals/a-journalists-guide-federal-courts/judges-and-judicial-administration-journalists-guide#:~:text=Only%20Congress%20has%20the%20authority,only%20eight%20have%20been%20convicted.) of the U.S. Courts. The most recent federal judge to be removed from office by Congress was G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Porteous was convicted by the Senate in December 2010 on charges of accepting bribes and making false statements under penalty of perjury. ​​Rep. Brandon Gill, a Republican from Texas, posted on X Tuesday that he planned to file articles of impeachment against Boasberg in the House. House Republicans have either threatened to file or filed articles of impeachment against at least four other federal judges who have ruled against Trump since he took office on Jan. 20\. ## Transcript [00:00] Legal experts we've spoken to say that [00:01] a constitutional crisis is unfolding when President Trump took office. [00:05] Constitutional law experts noted that he was expanding [00:08] the powers of the presidency beyond the limits set by the Constitution. [00:12] For example, when he set out to fire federal workers and eliminate government agencies, [00:16] he was stepping on the power of the purse that the Constitution gives to Congress. [00:21] And in recent days, [00:22] as he's moved forward with his deportation policy, [00:24] he has ignored judicial orders to put [00:27] a hold on deportation flights and other deportation actions. [00:30] This played out on Saturday, [00:32] when a federal judge told the Trump administration [00:34] to turn around deportation flights that were heading to El Salvador. [00:38] Trump administration appears to have ignored those orders, [00:41] and now President Trump is calling for [00:43] the impeachment of the judge who gave those orders. [00:46] This drew a rare rebuke from the Supreme Court. [00:49] Chief Justice John Roberts and John Roberts said very pointedly [00:54] that impeachment is not a recourse for people who disagree with the judicial order, [01:00] that there's an appeals process for that. [01:02] This has set up a battle between President Trump, [01:06] who takes an expansive view of things he can do as president, [01:09] and the other two branches of government, the judicial branch, [01:13] which so far has tried to rein in some of Trump's actions. [01:17] And Congress, which is run by the Republicans and so far [01:21] has not stood up to Trump stepping on its constitutional authority. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7269156/trump-judge-boasberg-impeach/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7269156/trump-judge-boasberg-impeach/"},"headline":"Trump Calls for Judge in Deportations Case to Be Impeached, Drawing Rare Rebuke From Roberts","datePublished":"2025-03-18T15:40:27.000Z","dateModified":"2025-03-18T19:33:53.000Z","description":"Trump also mocked the idea that a federal judge could constrain him.","url":"https://time.com/7269156/trump-judge-boasberg-impeach/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7fcfa1ed929cf376/6998c4fb1f670982a1f56327/GettyImages-2205126566.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Brian Bennett","jobTitle":"Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7fcfa1ed929cf376/6998c4fb1f670982a1f56327/GettyImages-2205126566.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Speaks At The Department Of Justice","caption":"President Trump Speaks At The Department Of Justice","creditText":"Andrew Harnik—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7269156/trump-judge-boasberg-impeach/","name":"Trump Calls for Judge in Deportations Case to Be Impeached, Drawing Rare Rebuke From Roberts"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Deportations Set Up Crucial Test For Courts, as Some Warn of Constitutional Crisis","description":"The Trump Administration appeared to openly defy multiple court orders over the weekend, deepening concerns among Democrats and legal experts that the constitutional crisis many feared when President Donald Trump was elected has now arrived.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/L6NHMl7H/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-03-18T19:29:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/L6NHMl7H.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7269156/trump-judge-boasberg-impeach/","duration":"PT1M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7269156/trump-judge-boasberg-impeach/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```