Republican senators are warning that any efforts to impeach James Boasberg, the judge who ruled against President Trump's deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members and is now handling a lawsuit related to senior Trump officials’ use of Signal, would be dead on arrival in the Senate.

Senior Senate Republicans also say they will oppose any effort by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to defund federal courts that rule against Trump's agenda, sending a message that they want to de-escalate Trump’s war against the federal judiciary.

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) introduced an article of impeachment against Boasberg earlier this month citing “abuse of power.” It already has 22 co-sponsors.

Johnson separately has floated the idea of simply eliminating courts that rule against Trump.

The Senate voted 96-0 to confirm Boasberg to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in March 2011, with yes votes coming from Republicans still in the chamber such as Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), John Cornyn (Texas), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Mitch McConnell (Ky) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.).

And while the Senate has become more partisan over the past 14 years, many Republican view themselves as the stewards of the federal judiciary and are not fond of Trump’s escalating war of words with the third branch, which in some cases have been echoed enthusiastically by Trump’s House allies.

Trump called for Boasberg to be impeached after the judge ruled he could not invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport more than 200 people, including alleged gang members, without a hearing.

That earned a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts, who noted that “for more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial opinion.”

© The Hill