Senator Schmitt Leads Colleagues in Calling for the Suspension, Impeachment of Judge Boasberg

'There is Precedent to Suspend a Judge Pending Impeachment'

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, and colleagues wrote to D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan calling for the administrative suspension of Chief Judge James Boasberg while Congress considers Articles of Impeachment for abusing his judicial authority to target the Trump administration, sitting Republican Senators, and conservative organizations.

On November 4, 2025, Articles of Impeachment were filed against Judge Boasberg for his role in Operation Arctic Frost, the Biden administration's effort to target and spy on sitting Republican Senators and conservative organizations, including the Republican Attorneys General Association during Senator Schmitt's tenure as chairman during his time as Missouri's Attorney General. Additionally, Judge Boasberg is accused of improperly using his role as Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to assign himself J.G.G. v. Trump, a case that the Supreme Court later found he lacked jurisdiction to handle.

The letter stated: "We write to you regarding Chief Judge James "Jeb" Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Chief Judge Boasberg should be administratively suspended pending formal impeachment by the House of Representatives and, if impeached, an impeachment trial by the Senate. On November 4, 2025, Articles of Impeachment were filed against Chief Judge Boasberg over, among other things, his role in improperly granting gag orders in the "Arctic Frost" probe: "Ignoring his responsibility to wield the power of his office in a constitutional manner, Chief Judge Boasberg granted Special Counsel John L. Smith authorization to issue frivolous nondisclosure orders in furtherance of . . . ARCTIC FROST."^[1] Your court adopted a similar sentiment when it reversed Chief Judge Boasberg in In re: Sealed Case, which found that he had erred by too permissively granting government-requested nondisclosure orders against X Corp."^[2]

The letter continued: "These Articles of Impeachment have received bicameral support.^[3] Chief Judge Boasberg's role in Arctic Frost is not the only complaint levied against him. He is accused of improperly using his role as Chief Judge, on March 15, 2025, to assign himself J.G.G. v. Trump, a case the Supreme Court found he lacked jurisdiction over.^[4] And in July 2025, it came to light that on March 11, 2025, "at one of the Conference's semiannual meetings, Judge Boasberg disregarded its history, tradition, and purpose to push a wholly unsolicited discussion about 'concerns that the Administration would disregard rulings of federal courts, leading to a constitutional crisis.'"^[5]

The letter continued: "There is precedent for administratively suspending a judge pending an impeachment inquiry. The most recently impeached judge, G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. of the Eastern District of Louisiana, was administratively suspended prior to his impeachment while the Judicial Conference of the United States investigated allegations against him of bribery and fraud.^[6] As Chief Judge of the applicable circuit judicial council, you are tasked with overseeing the Article III remedial process for the misconduct of the appellate and district judges of your circuit."

The letter concluded: "Given you have not entered an order under 352(b), we assume you are following your duties under 28 U.S.C. § 353, which mandate that you "shall promptly" establish a special committee "to investigate the facts and allegations contained in the complaint." While this impeachment process proceeds, we must have transparency regarding the actions the Circuit Judicial Council is taking against the judicial misconduct of Chief Judge Boasberg."

The lawmakers requested Chief Judge Srinivasan provide written responses to the following:

1. A status update on the DOJ judicial misconduct complaint filed against Judge Boasberg on July 28, 2025.
2. If this judicial misconduct complaint has been dismissed, provide written explanation for dismissing it, as well as any other misconduct complaints against Chief Judge Boasberg that have been filed in 2025.
3. If he is yet to act on this judicial misconduct complaint, provide a written explanation for why he has failed to "expeditiously" act upon the complaint.
4. If he has formed a special committee to investigate the judicial misconduct complaint.

Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined Senator Schmitt in sending this letter.

Read the full letter HERE.

###

[1] Elizabeth Elking and Breanne Deppisch, Trump foe Boasberg hit with articles of impeachment, Fox News (Nov. 4, 2025), https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-foe-boasberg-hit-articles-impeachment.

^[2] In re Sealed Case, 144 F.4th 329 (D.C. Cir. 2025)

[3] Courtney Bublé, GOP Senators Push For Judge Boasberg's Impeachment, Law360 (Oct. 29, 2025), https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/2405483/gop-senators-push-for-judge-boasberg-s-impeachment.

^[4] See Trump v. J. G. G., 604 U.S. 670, 672-74 (2025).

[5] Complaint Against United States District Court Chief Judge James E. Boasberg at 2 (D.C. Cir. Jud. Council July 17, 2025), https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/FINAL-Misconduct-Complaint-7.28.pdf.

[6] Jennifer Steinhauer, And Over in the Senate, an Impeachment Trial for a Judge, N.Y. Times (Dec 7, 2010), https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/and-over-in-the-senate-an-impeachment-trial-for-a-judge/.