Forty-six House Republicans sided with Democrats Wednesday night to defeat Rep. Chip Roy’s amendment to strip funding from activist federal judges and the rogue D.C. courts that have repeatedly undermined the will of the American people.
The amendment, offered as part of the fiscal 2026 appropriations package, would have cut 20 percent of the District of Columbia District Court and Circuit Court’s budget and zeroed out the staff/office budgets for Judges James Boasberg and Deborah Boardman.
Rep. Roy:
“We rise to offer two amendments today, one of which is the amendment that I’m bringing forward right now. That amendment deals with what we call general government—that portion of funding that covers a number of areas, including our judges and how judges are funded.One of the issues that we’ve been addressing is the extent to which the President, who is elected to fulfill a mandate, has been carrying out policies that he believes fulfill the mandate the American people gave him—mandates that members and my colleagues on this side of the aisle believe should be fulfilled.
And yet, there have been judges who have been putting their personal preferences and activist tendencies in front of the will of the people and in front of the policies the President is putting forward, in a way that raises serious questions about whether they are carrying out their jobs responsibly and in accordance with normal judicial ethics and procedures.
Therefore, I offer this amendment, which would reduce the budget of the district court, the D.C. District Court, and the D.C. Circuit Court by 20 percent, and would remove staff funding for Judges Boardman and Boasberg.
These two individuals have been particularly egregious in their contempt for the President and in placing their personal views ahead of their duty as judges to carry out the responsibilities of the offices they hold.
We created this court. We can dissolve this court. We can determine the funding for this court. The fact of the matter is, we have a situation right now where judges abuse their power—plain and simple. And the D.C. Circuit Court and the D.C. District Court are the locus of that abuse.
In particular, they have harassed staff members because people raise questions about why you would zero out staff. Well, I’ll tell you: ask Dan Scavino, ask Mark Meadows, ask a number of the people who have been targeted and harassed by these judges.
And January 6th—we should make amends. We should not fund this court to continue its lawlessness.”