A wide majority of Americans –– 70% –– oppose impeaching federal judges who are slowing down President Donald Trump’s agenda as the idea continues to gain traction among Republicans in Congress, according to a poll released Thursday morning.
In addition, 83% say the president must obey US Supreme Court decisions, the Marquette Law School poll found. (That view holds across party lines, including 78% of Republicans, 82% of independents and 90% of Democrats.)
Trump, Republicans and allies like Elon Musk have railed against courts that sided against the administration as the White House pushes a historically aggressive agenda.
At the forefront has been US District Judge James Boasberg, who has blocked the Trump administration’s ability to use the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport some migrants. Boasberg’s move last month led to Trump calling for his impeachment. Chief Justice John Roberts, in an extraordinarily rare move, rebuked Trump for his comments on March 18.
Roberts’ statement did not mention Trump by name, but it came hours after the president stepped up his attacks on federal judges by specifically calling for Boasberg to be impeached.
“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Several Trump allies, including Elon Musk, have been calling for weeks to impeach judges amid a slew of preliminary rulings against the Trump administration. Trump’s rhetoric opposing the judiciary has been far more aggressive than during his first term, and the administration’s approach has raised fears of a constitutional crisis.
Republican members of Congress, responding to the president, have moved to impeach federal judges, who serve lifetime appointments. A Texas Republican, Rep. Brandon Gill, said on social media last month that he introduced articles of impeachment against Boasberg.
Impeaching judges is exceedingly rare, and those resolutions are unlikely to advance.
The Marquette Law School poll was conducted March 17-27 and surveyed 1,021 US adults, using the SSRS Opinion Panel, a nationally representative online panel. Results among the full sample have a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.