Trump called federal judges “monsters.” His nominees won’t say if they agree.
They debase themselves in pursuit of proving their loyalty to the president.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, chaired by Senator Ted Cruz, was scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday afternoon titled “Impeachment: Holding Rogue Judges Accountable.” On Tuesday night, it was postponed.
The hearing was set to feature two individuals each advocating for the impeachment of their “rogue” judge of choice. The third witness, Steve Vladeck of Georgetown Law, described in his prepared testimony what the hearing was actually about: “an effort to vilify, and perhaps muster support for the impeachment of, two highly regarded federal district judges because some members of this Subcommittee disagree with some of their rulings.”
As Vladeck was set to tell the subcommittee today, “it’s not just that impeachment isn’t and shouldn’t be a remedy for judges who issue rulings with which we disagree; it’s that now is an especially perilous moment for this Subcommittee to be suggesting otherwise—thanks to the ongoing (and unprecedented) attacks on federal district judges from senior executive branch officials.”
Those attacks, of course, include many from the president, who in March posted on Truth Social that — referring to Chief Judge James Boasberg — “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!”
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse asked Trump’s first five judicial nominees in written questions earlier this year whether they believe it’s appropriate to impeach judges solely for ruling against the executive branch. The nominees didn’t bite, instead stating that it’s up to Congress or that they couldn’t answer the “hypothetical political question.”
In late May, in his unhinged and all-caps Memorial Day address to the nation, Trump railed against “USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY. HOPEFULLY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, AND OTHER GOOD AND COMPASSIONATE JUDGES THROUGHOUT THE LAND, WILL SAVE US FROM THE DECISIONS OF THE MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL.”
Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wondered what Trump’s nominees to lifetime judgeships thought about this message — so he started asking them. Ranking Member Durbin has asked 26 nominees the following question in writing:
On May 26, 2025, in a Truth Social post, President Trump referred to some judges whose decisions he disagrees with, as “USA HATING JUDGES” and “MONSTERS”, who “…SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY…” Do you agree that these federal judges are “USA HATING” and “MONSTERS” “…SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY…”?
No nominees to date have mustered the courage to say that federal judges who rule against the administration are not “monsters” — debasing themselves, perhaps, in pursuit of proving their loyalty to the man who nominated them. Instead, they say it would be “inappropriate” or “improper” for them to comment on political issues, statements, or controversies. And, as I wrote about yesterday, when 25 nominees were asked whether they agree that Democrats are evil, only one answered with a definitive “No.” And that is alarming.
Subcommittee Chair Cruz does not need to be holding this hearing and should not reschedule it. Because “at the moment,” as Vladeck said in his statement, “it seems especially irresponsible for this Subcommittee to be devoting its precious time and resources to a hearing that is likely to only reinforce the executive branch’s disturbing efforts to undermine public faith in the lower federal courts—rather than to push back against them.”
Indeed, there are a number of issues the subcommittee could be discussing or investigating — ones that would do more to restore public faith in the courts rather than undermine it. In 2023, for example, then-Chair Whitehouse held a subcommittee hearing on Supreme Court ethics reform. In 2022, he held one on transparency and accountability for 21st century courts (at both of these hearings, Jennifer Mascott — newly appointed to the Third Circuit by Trump — testified at the invitation of committee Republicans). There is also a need for oversight of the administration’s actions that seek to weaken our democracy and the rule of law.
But Cruz has no interest in that. And as long as Republicans retain control of the committee, it appears that reinforcing and supporting Trump’s dangerous, anti-democratic objectives — and approving his anti-civil rights federal judges — will remain their priority.