Congressional Republicans who have laid eggs on Elon Musk and other top allies of President Trump are expanding their calls to eliminate federal judges who hamper management efforts to review the government.
The protest threatens yet another attack on the constitutional guardrail that constrains administrative agencies.
Judicial bluffs are rare and take famous time. So far, they have not gained much traction with Congressional leaders as they seek to eliminate federal judges who are already facing an increasing number of security threats. Such a move would almost certainly fail in the Senate. There, a two-thirds majority would be required to convict.
But even this proposal represents another extraordinary attempt to violate the fundamental separation of power barriers by Republicans as Trump's allies attempt to exert iron-driven control over the complete government equipment. And Democrats argue that it is designed to threaten federal judges to issue rulings that could violate Trump's wishes.
“The only way to restore the rules for Americans is to fire each judge,” Musk wrote this week on his social media platform, X.
“We have to do each to save democracy,” Musk said in another X entry after a series of rulings halted Congress-approved spending and slowed the Trump administration's move to stop mass shootings of federal workers. He pointed to the cleansing of judges by the right-wing government in El Salvador.
The push accused the Archbishop House Republicans of filing arrogance-each articles against a federal judge whom they portrayed as obstacles to Trump, and acting corruptly in blocking the administration.
“If these partisan judges want to become politicians, they should resign and take office,” Arizona Republican leader Eli Crane submitted an article on the perks each against U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Engelmeyer in the Southern District of New York. A judge, benched by President Barack Obama in 2011, had temporarily banned Musk's government review team from accessing sensitive Treasury records.
Historically, federal judges' bullets each that arise strictly from serious criminal conduct rather than the content of the award is very rare. They also consume a wealth of time. Lawmakers must conduct House investigations and Senate trials, just like with the president's ammo each.
Those seeking to eliminate federal judges must meet the high threshold of securing 67 votes in the Senate. Just eight federal judges have been fired each, convicted and removed in the history of the country. Others were investigated and not guilty or resigned before being removed.
Given that there is a slight chance that a successful ruling each is a successful ruling, rather than a criminal misconduct, Democrats say that the drumbeat of each is an obvious effort to block a bull judge with a bull judge. They say they have followed a long-standing pattern of Trump and his allies attacking judges when courts don't progress.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, a senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said:
“It's all about raw politics,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and senior member of the panel. “It may seem ridiculously hypothetical to us here, but it is very threatening to judges. Bullying and threatening a judge is a device that bullies and threatens a judge to think twice about issuing an order.”
Political pressure on federal judges reached the level that Secretary John G. Roberts Jr. pointed out in a year-end report published in January. He scolded people who tried to raise an eyebrow at the judiciary, saying, “Attempts to blackmail a judge in a lawsuit are inappropriate and should be vehemently opposed.”
The U.S. Trial Lawyers University pushed back calls for each of Musk and others, saying “the threat of each of these to judicial acts has no constitutional basis and is patently inconsistent with the rule of law in which our country was established.”
Criticism of the judges has spread beyond the hard-working elements of Musk and his home, and is being picked up by Senate Republicans and other officials. Trump, who has a long record of judges' excitement, warned last month that he “should see” and “watch” the judge when his administration stepped in to block Musk's efforts. Vice President JD Vance has also raised acute doubts about the scope of the judicial authorities.
“The corrupt judges should be fired and removed,” Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who is on the Judiciary Committee, said in a social media post that “corrupted judges should be fired each and removed,” after suggesting that the administration's rulings had hit a “judicial coup.”
In an interview, Lee, a constitutional law expert with extensive legal experience, said it would be up to the House to decide whether a federal judge who blocked the Trump administration's proposal should be found.
“The question of whether someone committed a first possible blast-each crime here is the decision of the house above all,” Lee said. “We can't do anything until the house comes into play or acts,” he said the constitution provides for judges to remain in office for life during “good behavior.”
“If you're corrupt, if you're legally or criminally corrupt, or if you're abused your powers, that's not a good behavior,” he said.
Other senior Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have paid attention to lowering the bar to fire each federal judge over their decision against the Trump White House.
“The Rolling Stones said that best. You can't always get what you want,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who led the panel. “I'm not a huge fan of banging someone each because you don't like their decisions. They actually have to do something unethical.”
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and Judiciary Committee veteran, is known as the bluff each and “an extraordinary remedy for a unique case.”
“Earth each is a very serious issue and certainly should be handled on a case-by-case basis in a reasonable and gentle manner,” he said. “For anyone who is unhappy with a judge's decision, sue the judge's decision is the best way to ask.”
With a lot of time in aggressive campaigns to rebuild the government, oppose the Trump administration and in offensive campaigns where Musk and others try to lower their opinions to judges, it's unlikely that a call to each ammo will die.
But given the lack of leadership support so far and the small chance that the Senate can gather votes to banish judges, the fight says to see how lawmakers respond to court orders the administration doesn't like.
“In the end, this will be resolved in court,” Durbin said. “The question is whether Trump feels he has to follow court orders.”
