New Act Named After Infamous Rogue Judge Introduced into Congress — Here’s What It Would Do

One year ago, the DOJ filed its judicial misconduct complaint against Judge Boasberg.

Today, I'm filing the BOASBERG Act to permanently block rogue judges from hijacking cases.

Impeach Judge Boasberg. Pass the BOASBERG Act.https://t.co/9ZiCrbbPaD

— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) July 28, 2026

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BOASBERG ACT: Sen. Eric Schmitt introduces legislation named after the federal judge who has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration — designed to end judge shopping in federal courts by requiring random case assignment.

The bill would prohibit chief judges from… pic.twitter.com/1vHTCrcQsz

— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) July 28, 2026

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BOASBERG ACT: Sen. Eric Schmitt introduces legislation named after the federal judge who has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration — designed to end judge shopping in federal courts by requiring random case assignment.

The bill would prohibit chief judges from influencing which cases they oversee, require public disclosure of assignment practices, and create penalties for anyone who meddles with the process. Courts would have 120 days to comply.

Schmitt called Judge James Boasberg “the poster child for a rogue judge” who “exposed serious loopholes in our judicial system.” Boasberg, an Obama appointee, has blocked Trump’s deportation efforts, halted visa restrictions, and landed the Signalgate case — drawing impeachment calls from Trump and a misconduct complaint from the Justice Department.

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My bill does 3 main things:

1. Randomize case assignments for federal district and appeals courts.

2. Implement transparency measures to verify randomized assignments are actually being followed.

3. Reassign a case away from a judge if SCOTUS overrules him in that case. pic.twitter.com/KGKuQUCHgJ

— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) July 28, 2026

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Boasberg, who was first appointed to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama in 2010, has become a flashpoint for Republicans and the White House for his role in several high-profile cases against Trump and his administration during his two non-consecutive stints at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

It’s caused Trump to call for his impeachment and the Justice Department to file a misconduct claim against him.

Boasberg most recently blocked the State Department from restricting visas for foreign officials and other foreign nationals that the administration has accused of suppressing or helping suppress American free speech.

That latest move is just the tip of the iceberg in a long-running set of clashes between Boasberg and Trump.

Boasberg has been a key player in the administration’s attempt to deport Venezuelan migrants. He tried to temporarily block the administration’s fast-paced deportation of Venezuelan migrants that the White House alleged were Tren de Aragua gang members.

He later ordered the administration that the men had to be returned to the U.S. for violating due process in their removal.

Boasberg also landed the case surrounding “Signalgate,” where top members of Trump’s Cabinet, including Vice President JD Vance, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and then-National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, among others, accidentally included a journalist in their encrypted group message discussing strikes in Yemen.

He ordered the administration to preserve any of the messages related to the group chat, but stopped short of requiring that the administration salvage any that may have been deleted.

Schmitt hopes that his legislation will create a new operating standard moving forward.

“The BOASBERG Act prevents judges from forcing their way onto cases and is an important piece of court transparency legislation that will help restore the American people’s confidence in our judiciary,” Schmitt said.

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