Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) discussed how Congress can fight back against various anti-Trump activist judges issuing nationwide injunctions against his policies in a recent appearance on Fox News. He suggested that impeachment is "a hill you cannot get over" but that removing judges for violating the good behavior statute is an alternative.
Host Mike Emanuel played a clip from Attorney General Pam Bondi's appearance earlier in the day, in which she described how the Trump Administration has already faced 170 lawsuits and 50 judicial injunctions since Inauguration Day.
"That should be the constitutional crisis right there," said Bondi.
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Emanuel then asked Rep. Biggs what Congress could do in response.
"Well, Congress can actually, under Article III, Section 1, limit the jurisdiction of these courts who are issuing nationwide injunctions," Rep. Biggs began, but noted that such a maneuver is "antithetical. Both parties used to agree that that was not good practice jurisprudentially."
Alternatively, "you could deal with some of these problems financially, with reducing some of the funding for the federal courts," the Arizona Congressman added, acknowledging that "some of my colleagues want to do impeachment."
"I think that that is probably a hill you cannot get over," Biggs continued, referring to impeaching judges like his colleague Representative Eli Crane (R-AZ) has attempted.
As a result, he cited another facet of Article III, Section 1, which is that Congress can "remove for failure to serve during good behavior, which is actually the term of the Constitution, not lifetime tenure. So, there are some avenues for Congress to take, and we need to get going right away. We almost got one done last week."
Emanuel asked Biggs if he believed the judges were infringing on the executive powers, which the Arizona Congressman affirmed, saying, "They are abusing their power. Some of these judges have a long history of using political bias in ruling and making their decisions, and that is part of the good behavior standard. If you are abusing your power and going well beyond what your jurisdiction is because you have political animus and political bias, then you are not on good behavior, and you do not have the right to actually continue to serve as a federal district judge."
