Senator Schmitt targets ‘corrupt judge’ Boasberg for new bill to end judge-buying

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Republicans are planning to crack down on so-called “corrupt” judges, and are using one of President Donald Trump’s biggest cases in the judicial branch as a launching pad.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., plans to introduce the Blocking Overt Attempts at Shopping By Enforcing Randomization Guidelines Act in an effort to curb jury shopping in federal cases. This bill, shortened to the BOASBERG Act, is named after US District Judge James Boasberg, one of Trump’s main opponents on the bench.

Schmitt’s rule, first reported by Fox News Digital, would broadly require federal cases to be randomly assigned in an effort to limit the power of judges and prosecutors to influence who hears and oversees a case.

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“Judge Boasberg is the son of a corrupt judge and exposed major loopholes in our justice system,” Schmitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Randomly assigning cases among judges ensures that the American people can trust the impartiality of our courts.”

Schmitt’s law adds several precautionary provisions to the federal case selection process and gives courts 120 days after enactment to implement them.

It would require random assignment of federal cases, prohibit grand juries from influencing the assignment of cases, require courts to publicly disclose their assignment procedures, create penalties for interfering with or manipulating the assignment process, and require random reassignment of cases if the Supreme Court intervenes in the decision.

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

It prompted Trump to call for impeachment and the Justice Department to file a misconduct complaint against him.

Boasberg recently barred the State Department from blocking visas for foreign officials and other foreign nationals the administration accused of suppressing or helping to suppress free speech in America.

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President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 16, 2026. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

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

Boasberg has been a key player in the administration’s effort to deport Venezuelan immigrants. He tried to temporarily block the administration’s emergency deportation of Venezuelan migrants who the White House said were members of the Tren de Aragua gang.

He later ordered the administration that these men must be returned to the US for violating the proper procedures for their removal.

Boasberg also filed a lawsuit surrounding “Signalgate,” where senior members of Trump’s Cabinet, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and then-National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, among others, mistakenly included a reporter in their encrypted team message discussing the Yemen strikes.

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He instructed administrators to save any messages related to the group chat, but stopped short of requiring administrators to rescue any that may have been deleted.

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

“The BOASBERG Act prevents judges from forcing their way into cases and is an important piece of transparent court law that will help restore the confidence of the American people in our judges,” Schmitt said.