House Republicans Kill Effort To Defund Judges, Slash Budgets for Courts That Ruled Against Trump

A sizable number of House Republicans banded with House Democrats to vote against an effort to zero out the salaries and budgets for two federal judges who often rule against President Trump. The amendment to strip the judges of their salaries also included a significant funding cut for the district and appellate courts of the District of Columbia. The two jurists in question — Judge James Boasberg and Judge Deborah Boardman — have issued numerous rulings against the Trump administration, mostly related to immigration. The Washington, D.C. district and appellate courts have also been a hotbed of activity for legal cases against President Trump, often resulting in defeats for the Trump administration. Congressman Chip Roy of Texas, a former chief of staff for Senator Ted Cruz who is now running for state attorney general, decided to offer an amendment to a government funding bill aimed at punishing Judge Boasberg, Judge Boardman, and the District of Columbia courts. The amendment would have eliminated salaries for the jurists and their respective staffs, as well as 20 percent of the respective budgets for the district and appellate courts. The amendment was defeated by a margin of 163 to 257, with 46 Republicans voting against Mr. Roy’s measure. One Republican voted “present.”After the vote, Mr. Roy shared a screenshot of the vote totals, seemingly to call out his own Republican colleagues for their vote to keep the courts funded. He also shared a message from a well-known account on X, @WallStreetMav, which argued that the Republican party needed to get rid of those lawmakers who voted against Mr. Roy’s amendment. “The Deep State survives because our real enemies are within our own ranks,” the account, which has more than 1.7 million followers, wrote in the message shared by Mr. Roy. “Republicans must PURGE IN THE PRIMARIES! I will be posting the no votes when the House clerk puts them into the record.”The Republican “no” votes include a number of members of the House Appropriations Committee who are charged with negotiating bipartisan spending bills with Democrats before the pieces of legislation come to the floor. The committee’s chairman, Congressman Tom Cole, voted against Mr. Roy’s measure. The top Republican on the defense appropriations subcommittee, Congressman Ken Calvert, also voted against it. Other appropriations subcommittee chairman, including Congressmen Mario Diaz-Balart, David Joyce, Hal Rogers, Mike Simpson, David Valadao, John Carter, and Steve Womack, voted against the measure.All of the top members of House Republican leadership — Speaker Mike Johnson, Congressmen Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer, and Congresswoman Lisa McClain — all voted to add Mr. Roy’s amendment to the bill. Judge Boasberg has received a great deal of attention from the Republican Party in recent months after handling a number of immigration-related cases. He was the jurist who ordered that any migrants being deported to El Salvador’s maximum security prison CECOT should be returned to the United States. He is now considering contempt charges for members of the Trump administration whom he believes violated his order. Judge Boasberg currently serves as the chief judge of the Washington, D.C. federal district court. He was nominated to the bench by President Obama. Judge Boardman — a nominee of President Biden — is best known for issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking Mr. Trump’s executive order to rescind birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The Supreme Court is due to hear arguments in that case this spring. Judge Boardman received significant criticism after she sentenced a man who planned to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to only 97 months in prison despite prosecutors asking for more than 30 years in confinement. Attorney General Pam Bondi condemned the sentencing.

House Republicans Kill Effort To Defund Judges, Slash Budgets for Courts That Ruled Against Trump

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