Chief Justice of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia James Boasberg is caught in President Donald Trump’s crosshairs after ordering a two-week halt on deportation flights of Tren de Aragua gang members.
Without directly stating his name, Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment, prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to release a rare statement condemning calls for judges to be impeached solely based on disagreements with decisions.
But Roberts’s condemnation of Trump’s impeachment calls has not deterred Trump supporters from attacking Boasberg or his family members with unsubstantiated claims.
So who is Boasberg? And how has his past led him to the precarious position where Trump and his allies want him impeached?
Who is James Boasberg?
Boasberg has served as chief judge on the District Court since March 17, 2023. He was appointed by President Barack Obama to the court in 2011, receiving unanimous approval from the Senate.
He is a 1990 graduate of Yale Law School and a 1985 graduate of Yale University, where he played basketball. While in law school, Boasberg and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh were roommates.
Following graduation, Boasberg served as a law clerk to Judge Dorothy W. Nelson in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
Boasberg worked in the private sector from 1991 to 1996. He then became an assistant U.S. attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, serving as a top homicide prosecutor for five years. Boasberg served in this capacity at a time when violent crime was at an all-time high.
Former colleague Glenn Kirschner said Boasberg “never lost a homicide case,” despite taking some of the most difficult assignments in the office at the time.
In 2002, Boasberg became an associate judge of the District of Columbia Superior Court, serving in the Civil and Criminal Divisions and the Domestic Violence Branch.
During Boasberg’s confirmation process in 2011, then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) asked whether judges should base their decisions on desired outcomes or on laws and facts.
“Judges should not work from a desired outcome in assessing the law and facts,” Boasberg wrote. “Instead, they should follow the law and facts to whatever outcome they dictate.”
He also served a seven-year term on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, presiding over it from January 2020 to May 2021.
How does Boasberg interpret the Constitution?
During Boasberg’s appointment hearing, Sessions asked Boasberg if he believed the Constitution was a “living document,” which is constantly changing depending on how society interprets it. Boasberg disagreed, suggesting judges should only use interpretive tools of the Constitution when outlined by the Supreme Court.
“I believe that district judges must carefully follow constitutional interpretations articulated by the Supreme Court and their particular circuit,” Boasberg said in response to Sessions’s questioning. “When faced with an issue of truly first impression, district judges should begin with the text of the Constitution and then use only those interpretive tools endorsed by the Supreme Court.
Has he ruled on cases involving Trump before?
Since Boasberg’s tenure on the district court, he has made several rulings in cases involving Trump’s legal battles.
In 2023, Boasberg ordered former Vice President Mike Pence to testify to a grand jury regarding Trump’s attempts to pressure him into throwing out the 2020 election results and certifying the election in Trump’s favor. His testimony played a key role in the Biden Justice Department’s case against Trump, which asserted he was seeking to overturn the election. The criminal case against Trump was dismissed after he won the 2024 election, pursuant to the Justice Department’s policy against prosecuting the sitting president.
Boasberg also dismissed a lawsuit brought forward by a Trump aide against the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In his opinion, Boasberg made reference to a Star Trek catchphrase, writing, “Plaintiff may resist this conclusion, but as Star Trek’s Dr. Spock intoned, ‘Resistance is futile.'”
However, Boasberg has ruled in Trump’s favor before.
In 2017, when Trump began his first term, he kept the president’s tax records private from an advocacy organization seeking to obtain them. He also ruled in favor of conservative advocacy groups that were seeking to make Hillary Clinton’s emails when she was secretary of state public, ordering the federal government to review them. The emails became a major source of controversy for the Democrat when she was running against Trump in the 2016 election.
What are the chances Boasberg is impeached?
After Trump took to Truth Social calling for an unnamed judge to be impeached, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) filed articles of impeachment against Boasberg on Tuesday.
“He is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed from office,” Gill posted on X.
Gill’s filings will now need to go before the House Judiciary Committee for review, prompting an investigation into the judge’s alleged actions. Gill has accused Boasberg of using his position “to advance political gain” in blocking Trump’s deportation flights through the Alien Enemies Act.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) shared on CNN’s The Arena with Kasie Hunt that the committee will seriously consider whether Boasberg’s actions are worthy of impeachment.
“We’re going to do some research, we’re going to dig into this, and we’re going to find out,” Jordan said. “And then, I think when you really step back, Kasie, and look at how stupid the decision was by this judge, I mean, [Boasberg] basically said, well, not basically, he did say, ‘Turn the plane around, bring back gang members, hardened criminals, who’ve done all kinds of bad things, who are here illegally. Turn the plane around and bring those bad guys back to the country.’ I think just on its face, this is ridiculous. And so, it sure looks like the judge is acting in a political fashion.”
However, it will be up to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to call for a vote to move forward with impeachment proceedings against Boasberg. A vote to table the measure will be viewed as a vote against Trump.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PLAN
It would take just a simple majority to impeach in the House, but White House deputy chief of staff James Blair is not confident that the GOP will garner enough votes to proceed with impeachment.
“I would say that I doubt … that a bunch of floor time will be spent on something if they feel strongly like they can’t get the votes,” Blair told the Hill.
