For a party that’s been absolutely obsessed with ruminating about every farting thing the founding fathers ever thought, Republicans in 2025 have spent an awful lot of time trying to destroy the system of government those same founding fathers created. Because foundational to the American system of government is the notion of three co-equal branches of government, and an intricate system of checks and balances to prevent any branch from making a power-play.
But when federal judges — ones appointed by Democrats and Republicans alike — have presented speed bumps to Donald Trump‘s authoritarian takeover, the GOP responded with name-calling and articles of impeachment. The latest option Republicans are considering in response to the impediment of federal judges is much more extreme.
Yesterday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson proposed eliminating federal courts because they’ve issued decisions that are in opposition to President Trump.
“We do have the authority over the federal courts, as you know. We can eliminate an entire district court. We have power of funding over the courts and all these other things,” Johnson said. “But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Congress is going to act.”
Jim Jordan spoke vaguely about “legislative remedies” to the problem of district courts acting entirely appropriately, mind you. He said, “We got money, spending, the appropriations process to help try to address some of this.”
Oh, my god — is Sen. Josh Hawley being the reasonable one? He complained that eliminating a district court would create “massive, massive backlogs.” He continued, “My view is, I’d like to get more Republican judges on the bench. If we take away seats, we can’t do that.”
Mercifully, the plan is still in the mere posturing phase. But I shudder to imagine the absolutely apoplectic reaction we would have seen from these exact folks if Nancy Pelosi had even floated the idea in 2009.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
The post Republicans Want To Eliminate Federal Courts Because They’re Checking And Balancing Donald Trump appeared first on Above the Law.
For a party that’s been absolutely obsessed with ruminating about every farting thing the founding fathers ever thought, Republicans in 2025 have spent an awful lot of time trying to destroy the system of government those same founding fathers created. Because foundational to the American system of government is the notion of three co-equal branches of government, and an intricate system of checks and balances to prevent any branch from making a power-play.
But when federal judges — ones appointed by Democrats and Republicans alike — have presented speed bumps to Donald Trump‘s authoritarian takeover, the GOP responded with name-calling and articles of impeachment. The latest option Republicans are considering in response to the impediment of federal judges is much more extreme.
Yesterday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson proposed eliminating federal courts because they’ve issued decisions that are in opposition to President Trump.
“We do have the authority over the federal courts, as you know. We can eliminate an entire district court. We have power of funding over the courts and all these other things,” Johnson said. “But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Congress is going to act.”
Jim Jordan spoke vaguely about “legislative remedies” to the problem of district courts acting entirely appropriately, mind you. He said, “We got money, spending, the appropriations process to help try to address some of this.”
Oh, my god — is Sen. Josh Hawley being the reasonable one? He complained that eliminating a district court would create “massive, massive backlogs.” He continued, “My view is, I’d like to get more Republican judges on the bench. If we take away seats, we can’t do that.”
Mercifully, the plan is still in the mere posturing phase. But I shudder to imagine the absolutely apoplectic reaction we would have seen from these exact folks if Nancy Pelosi had even floated the idea in 2009.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
