Vance questions US judges authority on challenging Trump over DOGE

US Vice President JD Vance is scrutinizing the power of federal judges after a court ruling temporarily halted the Trump administration’s efforts to reform government operations. His outrage follows a court ruling that stopped the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing information from government departments.

On Saturday, US District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan issued an order preventing Musk’s team and Trump-appointed officials from accessing systems tied to the US Treasury Department. 

The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by a coalition of 19 Democratic-led states late Friday, arguing that Musk’s department lacked legal authority to handle sensitive government data.

In response to the federal judge’s decision, Vice President Vance took to social media, criticizing what he sees as judicial overreach. “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” Vance wrote on X, arguing that courts should not interfere with certain executive decisions. 

Federal judge ruling angers Trump’s administration

For the better part of last week, liberals have been arguing that granting Musk and his team access to Treasury systems could disrupt funding for critical federal programs, including health clinics, preschools, and climate initiatives. 

The democratic party lawmakers have also alleged that President Donald Trump could leverage the information for political purposes. They managed to convince a federal judge to temporarily block the government department from doing its “due diligence” on the US Treasury, and this has not sat well with the White House.

In his X post, Vance compared the situation to a judge attempting to dictate military operations or instruct the Attorney General on prosecutorial discretion, both of which, he argued, would be unconstitutional.

Several of the Trump administration’s sweeping executive orders, covering immigration, gender policies, and federal employee rights, have also been temporarily blocked by federal courts.

Replying to Vance’s post, California Senator Adam Schiff said that if DOGE ignored a court order because it “does not like it,” then America would be headed to “lawlessness.”

JD, we both went to law school.

But we don’t have to be lawyers to know that ignoring court decisions we don’t like puts us on a dangerous path to lawlessness.

We just have to swear an oath the constitution.

And mean it. https://t.co/Mg5W21JJx5

— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) February 9, 2025

Another Democrat, Senator Chris Murphy, framed Trump’s efforts to restructure federal agencies as a constitutional crisis. Speaking on ABC Sunday, Murphy warned that the administration’s aggressive cost-cutting, particularly at USAID, could have severe consequences.

“This is the most serious constitutional crisis the country has faced, certainly since Watergate,” Murphy said.

Musk calls for judicial impeachment

Since Saturday, Elon Musk has been bashing federal judges in the wake of these rulings, even going as far as calling for their removal from office. On Monday morning, Musk responded to a post on X calling for Congress to impeach federal judges.

“It’s time,” Musk wrote.

A day earlier, Musk called for the removal of Judge Engelmayer. He accused the judge of corruption and argued that barring his government efficiency team from accessing Treasury data was an obstruction to Trump’s cost-cutting initiatives.

A corrupt judge protecting corruption.

He needs to be impeached NOW! https://t.co/zgnwZuOz2Y

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 9, 2025

With multiple lawsuits challenging Trump’s policies, legal experts suggest that some of these cases may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court, which holds a conservative majority.