Sen. Ted Cruz is urging the House to impeach two federal judges, Chief Judge James Boasberg and Judge Deborah Boardman, claiming they have crossed a constitutional red line through what he calls “weaponized discretion.” Cruz’s case centers on Boasberg’s secret gag orders on Republican lawmakers’ records in a Trump-related probe and Boardman’s surprisingly lenient 8-year sentence for the man who attempted to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. This move is a direct challenge to the judiciary, testing the boundaries of “good Behaviour” and whether controversial rulings that appear to favor the left can be grounds for removal.
Story Highlights
- Ted Cruz is urging the House to impeach Judges James Boasberg and Deborah Boardman over Trump-related rulings and sentencing.
- Conservatives say Boasberg’s secret gag orders on GOP lawmakers’ records trampled constitutional protections.
- Boardman gave Justice Kavanaugh’s attempted assassin just 8 years after prosecutors sought 30, fueling outrage.
- The fight tests whether impeachment can be used against judges whose decisions appear to favor the left.
Cruz Targets ‘Rogue’ Judges Over Trump-Era Power Abuses
Sen. Ted Cruz used his perch as chair of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee to lay out an impeachment case against Chief Judge James Boasberg and Judge Deborah Boardman, arguing they crossed a constitutional red line. He told the House to initiate impeachment, claiming both judges abused judicial power in ways that struck directly at conservatives. For right-leaning Americans who watched years of politicized rulings against Trump and his allies, Cruz’s move channels long-building frustration.
At the heart of Cruz’s case is a simple claim: federal judges hold office only during “good Behaviour,” and that standard is not a lifetime guarantee when rulings undermine constitutional safeguards. Historically, only a handful of judges have ever faced impeachment, almost always for blatant corruption or criminal conduct. Cruz is now arguing that weaponized discretion—when judges use their power to shield partisan investigations or go soft on left-wing violence—can also qualify as an impeachable abuse.
Ted Cruz urges House to impeach Judges Boasberg and Boardman | @dcexaminer https://t.co/YrSVuoHbV3
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) January 7, 2026
Boasberg’s Secret Gag Orders And The Speech Or Debate Clause
James Boasberg’s actions during Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Trump-related investigation form the first pillar of Cruz’s argument. As chief judge of the D.C. district court, Boasberg approved subpoenas and nondisclosure, or gag, orders for the phone records of Republican lawmakers swept into the January 6 and 2020 election obstruction probe. Those orders meant targeted members of Congress could be kept in the dark while prosecutors combed through their communications.
For conservatives, that decision looks less like neutral case management and more like an assault on the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which protects legislative work from executive intimidation. Cruz and allied witnesses said Boasberg effectively greenlit secret incursions into the legislative branch, helping prosecutors treat elected representatives like criminal suspects for questioning the 2020 process. Defenders respond that such sealed orders are routine and that Boasberg was not told lawmakers were involved, but that explanation has done little to calm grassroots concern.
Boardman’s Lenient Sentence For Kavanaugh’s Would-Be Assassin
Judge Deborah Boardman’s handling of Sophie (formerly Nicholas) Roske, who traveled to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home with a firearm and supplies, has become a second flashpoint. Prosecutors asked for 30 years and sentencing guidelines pointed to decades in prison, reflecting the gravity of an attempted assassination of a sitting Supreme Court justice. Boardman instead imposed 97 months—about eight years—stunning many who see the judiciary as quick to punish January 6 trespassers but lenient when conservatives are the targets.
Boardman stated that she weighed Roske’s mental-health struggles and transgender identity, including hardships associated with that status, among the mitigating factors. Conservative legal groups argued that this turned identity politics into a sentencing discount for someone who stalked a conservative justice at his family home. For Cruz and many in his audience, that sentence broadcasts a dangerous signal: threaten a conservative jurist, invoke favored identity categories, and face a fraction of the time you would receive if the roles were reversed.
Impeachment As A Check On Judicial Activism – And The Risks
Cruz insists impeachment is the constitutional tool the framers provided for precisely these kinds of abuses, even where no statute was broken. He says judges who secretly bless fishing expeditions into Congress or minimize an assassination attempt “violate the public trust” and “injure society,” making removal appropriate. Supportive witnesses point to past impeachment articles citing “abuse of judicial power” to argue that Congress is not confined to bribery or perjury when confronting lawless courts.
Opponents, including Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and several legal scholars, counter that Cruz is crossing a separate red line by turning impeachment into a weapon against judges who rule against Trump or depart from punitive expectations. They say the constitutional remedy for bad rulings is appeal, not removal, and warn that normalizing impeachment over contested judgments will chill judicial independence. For readers already wary of an activist bench, this raises a hard question: how do you restrain overreach without turning every controversial ruling into an impeachment trial?
Watch the report: BREAKING NEWS: Ted Cruz Calls For Impeachment And Conviction Of Two Federal Judges
Sources:
- Cruz demands impeachment of Boasberg and judge who sentenced Kavanaugh’s attempted assassin
- GOP senators threaten to impeach judges who rule against Trump
- Senate Judiciary clashes over judicial impeachments, rising threats against judges
