House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is striving to balance President Donald Trump’s demands to impeach federal judges who block his agenda with efforts to curb their power without risking politically hazardous removal votes. Under increasing pressure from the White House, Johnson has endorsed legislation that would restrict the reach of a district judge’s ruling if an injunction is imposed. For weeks, Trump and his allies have decried local judges’ ability to enforce measures—such as nationwide bans on deportations or the shutdown of government agencies—that they argue hinder the president’s objectives.
Introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the proposed bill could offer Johnson a path forward without reinforcing the mainstream media’s narrative of an impending “constitutional crisis.” While the Trump administration has previously navigated around judicial decisions by citing technicalities or procedural errors, many reporters now speculate that the president might eventually ignore a federal court order—a claim he has consistently denied.
Issa’s bill, the “No Rogue Rulings Act,” seeks to bar federal judges from enacting nationwide injunctions. Speaker Johnson, a former constitutional attorney, supported the legislation on Tuesday. “We have a major malfunction in our federal judiciary, and practically every week, another judge casts aside the tradition of restraint from the bench and opts to be the Trump resistance in robes,” Issa said in a statement to NBC News.
The senior Judiciary Committee member added, “Our bill is the constitutional solution to a national problem, and that’s why it’s on a glide path to the House floor and to the Senate next.” Meanwhile, some House Republicans, including Reps. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) and Andy Ogles (R-TN), have introduced separate bills aiming to impeach individual judges—most notably, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who halted the Trump administration’s deportation of Venezuelan illegal immigrants.
Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) expressed his support for Issa’s bill, describing it as a “good piece of legislation.” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), who manages the schedule for floor activities, announced on Monday that the bill will be brought up for a vote next week.
