'Taking their orders from the' DOJ: Ex-US attorney wants to shift control of Marshals Service

Democratic lawmakers, on Thursday, May 22, introduced a bill that would shift control of the U.S. Marshals Service from the U.S. government's executive branch to the federal judiciary. The move, Democrats say, is designed to enhance security protections for judges at a time when threats of violence against them are on the rise.

Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade discussed this bill during a Memorial Day 2025 appearance on MSNBC and laid out some reasons why she thinks it's a good idea.

McQuade told MSNBC's Chris Jansing, "I think that this is actually a really interesting and terrific idea. I think judges are very concerned. We see the number of threats up. We see things like social media posts intimidating and harassing them. We see them receiving pizzas delivered to their homes, which may sound harmless, but it really suggests an intimidation tactic of I-know-where- you-live. And because of this clash with the executive branch, I think that having the U.S. Marshals Service fall under the judicial branch actually makes a lot of sense — because then, the marshals are taking their orders from the judiciary."

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McQuade continued, "Right now, they're taking their orders from the Justice Department. The other thing this would create is the ability for judges to truly hold people in contempt for their orders, because they would have their own law enforcement arm to effectuate those orders. Right now, if a judge were to hold someone in contempt, they would be beholden to the Justice Department to execute that order. So I think it's actually a really great idea."

The former U.S. attorney was critical of some recent comments from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who attacked judges as "deranged" for blocking President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration.

McQuade told Jansing, "Well, it's hard to know what's cause and what's effect, but certainly, the rhetoric doesn't help. And we've seen a spike in threats against judges. It's got to be part of it. But I think one of the things the Trump Administration is trying to do is to conflate substance with process. They say we have a mandate to be aggressive in enforcing immigration laws; maybe that's true, but they still have to do it in compliance with the law."

McQuade added, "And so, these criticisms about judges are really for upholding procedural protections that are constitutionally guaranteed, like the right to due process."

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Watch the full video below or at this link.