The
Department
of
Justice
is
trying
to
make
its
recent
spate
of
high-profile
legal
losses
Congress’s
problem.
Per
Bloomberg
Law,
DOJ
leadership
is
openly
soliciting
examples
of
judges
who
had
the
audacity
to
rule
against
the
government
so
those
judges
can
be…
reported
to
Congress
for
impeachment.
At
a
recent
virtual
meeting
with
leaders
from
the
nation’s
93
U.S.
attorney’s
offices,
DOJ
officials
asked
prosecutors
to
provide
“vivid
instances”
in
which
judges
allegedly
obstructed
the
government
through
adverse
rulings.
Yeah,
DOJ
leadership
is
really
asking
to
get
a
rundown
of
the
Department’s
spiciest
losses
so
they
can
dress
them
up
as
constitutional
crises.
The
request
reportedly
came
from
Associate
Deputy
Attorney
General
Aakash
Singh,
and
it
fits
neatly
into
what
Todd
Blanche
has
openly
described
as
a
“war”
on
the
federal
judiciary.
A
DOJ
spokesperson
confirmed
the
effort,
explaining
that
the
department
is
collecting
“the
most
egregious
examples
of
this
obstruction”
to
help
Congress
“rein
in
judges
violating
their
oaths.”
According
to
DOJ,
these
violations
include
judges
declining
to
sign
off
on
criminal
complaints
or
search
warrants
and
judges
“erroneously
inserting
themselves”
into
the
U.S.
attorney
nomination
process.
All
of
which
are
examples
of
judges
doing
the
damn
job.
This
is
nothing
but
political
theater.
A
show
staged
when
the
executive
branch
throws
a
tantrum
because
the
judiciary
refuses
to
act
as
a
rubber
stamp.
The
Constitution
gave
judges
life
tenure
precisely
so
they
wouldn’t
have
to
worry
about
being
hauled
before
Congress
every
time
the
government
doesn’t
like
the
answer
it
gets.
And
even
as
theater,
it’s
bad
theater.
There
are
not
67
votes
in
the
Senate
to
remove
a
federal
judge,
so
no
one’s
job
is
seriously
being
threatened.
The
GOP
might
not
even
have
the
support
to
refer
it
to
the
Senate,
despite
House
Speaker
Mike
Johnson’s
recent
enthusiasm
for
judicial
impeachments.
As
Rep.
Darrell
Issa,
chair
of
the
House
Judiciary
Committee
panel
with
oversight
of
the
judicial
branch,
admitted
last
week,
“We
don’t
do
one
unless
we
think
we
truly
have
the
elements
necessary
for
the
Senate
to
agree
with
us.”
What
the
DOJ
is
doing
instead
is
laying
the
groundwork
for
intimidation,
and
following
on
to
the
Republican
talking
point
about
judges.
The
message
to
judges
is
unmistakable:
rule
against
us
too
often,
too
loudly,
or
too
inconveniently,
and
we’ll
put
your
name
on
a
list
and
see
what
Congress
can
do
with
it.
That’s
not
how
an
independent
judiciary
functions,
that’s
how
an
administration
tries
to
chill
dissent
from
a
co-equal
branch
of
government.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].