In the United States, there are three coequal branches of government. The idea built into the Madisonian constitutional system is to create a series of checks and balances between the federal institutions.
In contemporary politics, the obvious problem is that too many congressional Republicans reject the idea of using the legislative branch to serve as a check on Donald Trump’s executive branch. The less obvious problem is that some of those same GOP lawmakers want to undermine the judicial branch, too.
Elon Musk, the president’s biggest campaign donor, has already called for a “wave of judicial impeachments, not just one.” (This came after the billionaire demanded the immediate impeachment of a specific district court judge.) Asked about the statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters, “That’s not going to happen now.” She quickly added, however, “We’re going to look at everything.”
As The Hill reported, some Republicans on Capitol Hill appear to have a more aggressive approach in mind.
Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) said he is drafting articles of impeachment against Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York, who in a ruling last weekend temporarily restricted Musk and DOGE aides from accessing a Treasury Department payment system. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) is working on an impeachment resolution against Rhode Island District Judge John McConnell Jr. over his ruling halting the Trump administration’s freeze on federal funding.
For good measure, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, endorsed the effort to impeach Engelmayer after saying at a subcommittee hearing last week, “We will hold this judge and others who try to stop the will of the people and their elected leaders accountable.”
As for Clyde, the Arizonan appeared on former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz’s television program last week and told the One America News Network host, “Our case for impeaching Judge Engelmayer is basically that he’s an activist judge trying to stop the Trump administration from, you know, executing their, you know, Article II powers to make sure that the laws are faithfully executed.” As stirring as this sales pitch was, there’s little to suggest Clyde’s effort is likely to advance, at least anytime soon. Plenty of Republicans are willing to condemn judges who’ve issued rulings the White House don’t like, and some Republicans have toyed with the idea of ignoring rulings Trump doesn’t like, but at least for now, few see these decisions as high crimes. That said, the fact that some GOP lawmakers are even pursuing these impeachment efforts is extraordinary, and given the eagerness among many House Republicans to go to ridiculous lengths to curry favor with Trump, it seems likely that these gambits will find some co-sponsors in the coming days and weeks.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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