Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia asked a federal judge Tuesday if U.S. Marshals could haul President Donald Trump to jail for “contempt” for any legal cases that pertain to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Circuit Judge Timothy Tymkovich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit testified Tuesday at a hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet. Tymkovich discussed a shortage of judgeships on the federal bench before Johnson asked about the marshals.
“If a president willfully failed or refused to comply with a court ruling, they could be held in contempt of court theoretically, but it would be up to the U.S. Marshals Service, which is a part of the Justice Department, to be the enforcement arm for the federal courts. Is that correct?” Johnson asked.
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“Your hypothetical would have to play itself out,” Tymkovich said.
Since President Donald Trump established DOGE by rebranding the United States Digital Service in a Jan. 20 executive order, the agency has faced legal challenges from government employee unions and Democratic state attorneys general.
“It would be the U.S. Marshals, who fall under the Department of Justice, who would have to carry out the contempt order,” Johnson said. “And so what would happen if the U.S. Marshals Service, under the command of the Justice Department, at the direction of the president, refused to carry out a court order of contempt? What — what would then be the state of our democracy?”
“Again, I’m here on behalf of the judicial conference to talk about the shortage of judges that we have, and I would comment on those needs in particular,” Tymkovich said.
Johnson previously asked if the deployment of additional military personnel to Guam would cause the island to capsize. He also claimed that classified documents were planted in the house of then-President Joe Biden.
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