Congress
Impeachment push won’t come straight to House floor
The Texas Republican seeking to impeach the federal judge who attempted to block President Donald Trump’s deportation flights isn’t backing down. But he said Monday he has no immediate plans to force a House vote on ousting U.S. District Judge James Boasberg.
Rep. Brandon Gill said in an interview Monday that he spoke with Speaker Mike Johnson about the matter and the two “discussed a range of options” about how to move forward. While Gill could call up his resolution targeting Boasberg as a privileged matter, he said he isn’t seeking to fast-track the effort at the moment.
He has, however, secured three new GOP cosponsors: Reps. Mary Miller of Illinois, John McGuire of Virginia and Michael Rulli of Ohio, bringing the total to 19.
Gill still said he viewed impeachment as the “proper remedy” for Boasberg’s “lawless and unconstitutional ruling” against Trump that’s blocking a key piece of his agenda: “We’re going to continue pushing impeachment.”
But Gill’s decision not to immediately force a floor vote gives Johnson more flexibility to find other release valves for the mounting pressure from Trump, billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk and the GOP base to pursue judicial impeachments.
Johnson and GOP leaders don’t have the votes to impeach Boasberg or any other judges, let alone the 67 Senate votes needed to convict and remove them. The speaker confirmed to reporters earlier Monday that he is looking “at all the alternatives that we have to address this problem,” including legislation to rein in nationwide injunctions.
GOP leaders are planning a House vote next week on a bill from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to curb national injunctions. Gill said he supported Issa’s legislation and that he was “very happy” to see the speaker move it quickly toward a floor vote.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is in the Capitol meeting with holdout GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiania as he tries to lock down their support for his confirmation as permanent leader of the Justice Department.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) declined to respond directly Wednesday to Speaker Mike Johnson’s refusal to denounce his former son-in-law Rep. Max Miller over abuse accusations leveled by Moreno’s daughter: “These aren’t accusations in my world,” he said.
“In my world, this is the reality,” Moreno told reporters at the Capitol. “This is not something that is theoretical to me. This is my lived reality of my daughter and my family every single solitary day.”
In an interview with Dasha Burns for Blue Light News’s The Conversation, Johnson declined to take sides in the dispute between Miller (R-Ohio) and Emily Moreno. He called for a House Ethics probe to “play out.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s expected choice for Army chief of staff faces resistance that could imperil his confirmation, according to the chair of the panel that needs to approve it.
Senate Armed Services head Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said Wednesday that he was aware of “some opposition within the committee” to acting Army chief of staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve taking the job on a permanent basis.
LaNeve, previously Hegseth’s senior military aide, was confirmed as Army vice chief of staff in January. But he has also served as acting chief of staff since April when Hegseth forced out popular Gen. Randy George, a move that drew widespread criticism from lawmakers in both parties.
Wicker said he was “not able to predict right now” if lawmakers could address concerns about LaNeve. He did not specify whether the concerns were raised by Republicans, but GOP resistance is likely given that nominees could advance through the committee on a party-line vote.
LaNeve has only held the position of four-star general for six months, an anomaly for the the senior most Army officer.
The Wall Street Journal first reported about Republican opposition to LaNeve, citing Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-Iowa) concerns about his lack of experience at the four-star rank.
Ernst, in an interview, did not dispute that she was the source of the holdup. But she called it a moot point as President Donald Trump has not yet formally nominated LaNeve to the position. And she disputed reports that LaNeve’s lack of experience was the sticking point.
“I don’t think that time and grade has anything to do with leadership ability, so I don’t know how that came about, honestly.” she said. “That’s not what I’ve told anyone.”
If the opposition continues, Trump could decide to leave LeNeve in the acting position indefinitely.
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