EXCLUSIVEInside powerful Republican Jim Jordan's plan to take down 'anti-Trump radical' judges
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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is plotting how to defund 'anti-MAGA' judges impeding Donald Trump's agenda.
The powerful Ohio Republican and Trump ally is sick of 'political' district judges who are halting executive actions meant to cut government spending, deport illegal aliens and freeze foreign aid.
There have been 15 lower court injunctions that have paused White House initiatives since the beginning of the 78-year-old Republican's term. That's more than the entire tenure of Joe Biden, 14, and both of President Barack Obama's terms combined, 12.
Already over 50 judicial actions nationwide have paused White House initiatives. Trump has decried the judges as 'radical' and the injunctions as 'unlawful.'
'Everything's on the table,' Jordan told DailyMail.com when asked how he may lead a congressional response to district judges' 'ridiculous orders.'
He noted that there is already legislation being considered to disarm district court judges and others who may push forward with policy-blocking injunctions. Jordan, 61, also noted that congressional hearings provide opportunities to grill the judges.
But Congress also has the unique responsibility of overseeing the structure and funding of lower federal courts around the country, meaning Jordan could recommend some courts get defunded or wiped out altogether.
The Republican shared he has already had multiple conversations with Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., and others about how Congress can adjust and reorganize court funding.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks with Donald Trump. Jordan has been a longtime ally of Trump and is now leading the charge in Congress to reign in federal judges that he believes are out of line in holding up the president's agenda
Jordan told DailyMail.com that he discussed his upcoming plans to hold district judges accountable with President Trump at a wrestling event in Ohio over the weekend
James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court, in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, March 13, 2023. Boasberg ruled that some of Trump's deportation flights needed to be stopped
'I briefly talked to them, and said we want to look at this. So trying to give them a heads up, so we'll look at, you know, any and all things. And, like I said, everything's on the table.'
'There may be some other areas where we can look at where the appropriations and the power of the purse and funding makes sense.'
However, Jordan did admit he was not keen on pulling funding from court security, specifically noting how Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was harassed in the wake of the landmark Dobbs abortion ruling.
His plan seems in-line with Speaker Mike Johnson's Tuesday statement noting how Congress can 'eliminate' entire district courts.
In addition to defunding the courts, the chairman has a hearing scheduled next week with district judge James Boasberg who has caught the ire of the Republicans after issuing an injunction on the administration's deportations of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act.
President Trump made the extraordinary call for Boasberg to be impeached due to his holding up the deportation of illegal aliens.
Jordan told DailyMail.com that he spoke to Trump about his upcoming hearing with Boasberg at the NCAA Wrestling Championship in Ohio over the weekend.
'We mostly talk wrestling ... but I did tell him that we're looking to have hearings,' the Republican said. 'Particularly this judge Boasberg decision.'
Boasberg's ruling came when deportation flights were already in the air, Jordan said
Patricia Ann Millett, a U.S. circuit judge for the District of Columbia, recently said 'Nazis got better treatment,' that Venezuelan migrants who are getting deported
Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrive at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Monday, March 24, 2025
Jordan said he had the idea for the hearings after the Boasberg ordered a plane full of illegal immigrants to return to the U.S. while in the middle of a deportation flight.
Though it's not just Boasberg that Jordan wants to drag up to Capitol Hill.
This week, Boasberg was assigned to a lawsuit against the Trump administration regarding National Security Advisor Mike Waltz's Signal scandal, in which he accidentally invited a journalist into a private group chat discussing military strikes in Yemen.
The chairman wants to bring out multiple judges, 'particularly examining decisions that try to limit what President Trump is doing.'
Trump has also railed against district judge John James McConnell Jr. after he sided with 22 states and the District of Columbia to reinstate the flow of federal grants and loans that the White House froze as DOGE sifted through spending.
Republican lawmakers have already introduced articles of impeachment against McConnell and another Maryland based district judge, Theodore Chuang, who recently ruled that dismantling USAID is unconstitutional.
