Summary
House Speaker Mike Johnson asserted that Congress has the authority to eliminate entire district courts, control funding, and oversee the judiciary.
He described such actions as necessary in “desperate times” due to judges blocking Trump’s policies through nationwide injunctions.
Johnson announced plans for a House Judiciary Committee hearing to address “abuses” and advanced legislation to limit judges’ power to issue such injunctions.
He later clarified his remarks were not a threat but emphasized congressional control.
Your articles seem to say that congress has periodically rearranged and eliminated “Article III courts,” recently avoiding the Constitutional crisis of not paying judges of the eliminated courts by posting them elsewhere. But I’m no lawyer, so maybe I’m misinterpreting “In 1891, Congress enacted legislation creating new intermediate appellate courts and eliminating the then-existing federal circuit courts.” and “In 1982, Congress enacted legislation abolishing the Article III Court of Claims and U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals”
Yes, so they can move them around, but they can’t say “Hey, this court is gone now because they’re causing the Executive problems”. They can’t redefine the balance of how they are supposed to work. The judges are guaranteed positions as well, so they can’t fire them either.