US House Speaker Johnson says Congress can 'eliminate' district courts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday warned that Congress' authority over the federal judiciary includes the power to eliminate entire district courts, as the White House rails against "activist" judges blocking Republican President Donald Trump's agenda.

Johnson, the top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, told reporters the numerous injunctions issued by judges nationally that have stymied Trump's initiatives were part of a "dangerous trend."

"It violates separation of powers when a judge thinks that they can enjoin something that a president is doing, that the American people voted for," Johnson said during his weekly press conference.

He said the House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing next week "to highlight these abuses" and had recently advanced legislation that would prevent district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions blocking policies.

"We do have authority over the federal courts," he said. "As you know, we can eliminate an entire district court. We have power over funding, over the courts and all these other things. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Congress is going to act."

Nationwide injunctions have been issued by judges frequently in recent years, blocking policies adopted by presidents of both parties. Any legislation the House passes to curtail them would face tough odds of success in the Senate, where Democratic support would be needed.

Johnson later clarified to reporters that his remarks were not meant as a threat but to "illustrate that we have broad authority over the courts."

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters it was "outrageous to even think of defunding the courts."

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts declined to comment.

Johnson's remarks came in response to a question about how the House would address the impeachment resolutions filed by conservative members of his party against six judges who have blocked actions undertaken by Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

Republican House members filed them despite long-shot odds of ever securing convictions in the U.S. Senate. Asked about the resolutions, Johnson deferred to the Judiciary Committee.

The judges targeted include Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who Trump himself argued should be impeached after he ordered the administration to halt the removal of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants.

That call for an impeachment drew a rare rebuke from Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, who in a statement said "impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision," which can be appealed.

(Reporting by David Morgan in Washington and Nate Raymond in Boston; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Nia Williams)