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FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican is planning to curb so-called “rogue” judges, and he is using one of President Donald Trump’s greatest foils in the judicial branch as the launching point.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is planning to introduce the Blocking Overt Attempts at Shopping By Enforcing Randomization Guidelines Act in an attempt to curb judge shopping in federal cases. The bill, shortened to the BOASBERG Act, is named after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, one of Trump’s main antagonists on the bench.
Schmitt’s legislation, first obtained by Fox News Digital, would broadly require that federal cases be randomly assigned in a bid to limit the ability of judges and litigants to influence who gets to hear and oversee a case.
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“Judge Boasberg is the poster child for a rogue judge and exposed serious loopholes in our judicial system,” Schmitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Randomly assigning cases among judges ensures the American people can have confidence in the impartiality of our courts.”
Schmitt’s legislation adds several guardrails to the selection process for federal cases and gives courts 120 days after enactment to implement them.
It would require the random assignment of federal civil cases, prohibit chief judges from influencing case assignments, require courts to publicly disclose their case assignment practices, create penalties for meddling with or manipulating the assignment process, and require the random reassignment of a case if the Supreme Court intervenes in a ruling.
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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.
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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.
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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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