House GOP Files to Impeach Judge Who Ruled Against DOGE

In one of the most nakedly dangerous political moves in a long time, House Republicans have filed articles of impeachment against Southern District of New York U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, the judge that initially ruled to halt the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to access the Treasury Department system for government payments. Making matters infinitely worse, Elon Musk – who really should know better at this point, and likely does, is acting recklessly and narrowly for reasons we cannot know. He supports the move to impeach the judge.

Not exactly sure why this is good – and not at all convinced that Musk actually thinks it is good, only that he has to publicly come out as such. Musk may not have that strong an opinion, either way. But something is moving these people to take very dangerous public positions, and I cannot understand them. I fail to see some huge advantage in laying off tens of thousands of government employees, from the national parks, to NIH, to NASA, to the IRS. I don’t get it, so I don’t get this, either. And from Courthouse News:

In Republicans’ crosshairs is Southern District of New York Judge Paul Engelmayer, who this month issued an order keeping Musk’s team out of the federal payments system. But it’s unclear whether this move, aimed at ousting a judge with a lifetime appointment, has the political momentum it needs to clear the high hurdle of impeachment.

Regardless, the articles of impeachment against Engelmayer, filed Tuesday by Wisconsin Representative Derrick Van Orden but published online Wednesday, represent the most extreme congressional action yet targeting the federal judiciary.

I don’t understand Musk’s response – he knows better, but here is what I most certainly do get. You do not move to impeach a federal judge based on one ruling, not without evidence that the ruling was a product of a payoff or something like that. Even if the ruling was easily 100% wrong (And I don’t think this one was easily described, either way) that is no basis whatsoever to impeach. Impeachments are for “high crimes and misdemeanors” not strikeouts on a ruling, and especially not a close call in which one side has a lot of political juice wrapped up on continuing on its quest. It is not like DOGE didn’t expect court challenges, it’s not like it didn’t expect to lose some of those challenges, and it’s not like the ruling somehow threatened DOGE’s overall plan, and it’s not an impeachable offense even if it did! It is that much more appropriate and braver.

To be sure, there is no conceivable way that this judge will be removed from the bench. It is highly unlikely that the GOP will even amass enough support in the House for a majority impeachment, not with their slim majority, and not with the GOP understanding that DOGE isn’t all that popular to begin with – certainly not with some of the more sophisticated GOP Reps understanding that this isn’t a basis on which to impeach a judge. This is wholly aside from the fact that the Senate will never come close, won’t get close to a majority of Republican Senators voting to convict, never mind two-thirds of all Senators, not a worry. But the impeachment certainly does serve to intimidate judges into the future. In that respect this is a very big deal even though this judge won’t be removed.

There is also the fear that the law won’t be followed as closely or held up as sacrosanct. We have already seen talk about ignoring rulings from the federal bench. Putting this judge up on the impeachment chopping block is just another means of delegitimizing the judiciary and the importance of their rulings.

As for Musk, it is really really bothersome. Yes, we know he has billions and billions of reasons to curry Trump’s favor however Musk finds it. Yes, we know that Musk loves power and loves his current proximity to power. We know the ego involved. But Musk is also a bit more sophisticated than most and must realize the destabilizing nature of clamoring for an impeachment based on losing a simple motion versus simply appealing and hoping for the best. The amazing thing is that it is the American economy and system that preserves those hundreds of billions that make up Musk’s wealth. Why is it that Musk is content to leave his fortune within an American system that is now actually threatened by what Musk himself is doing? Musk got rich and secure off the American system as it existed in the last decade. He is now creating a fundamentally different system for the next ten years and there is no way for anyone to be certain as to whether the system will continue to serve him so well…

Additionally, and this seems obvious, if you get so nutty as to say that any Congress that impeaches a federal judge over a simple ruling can also make some equally crazed laws and votes that are just as political, just as much a message. How about passing a law that requires a “space license” to launch space vehicles from the U.S., a license that costs $250 billion. It wouldn’t be unconstitutional. It would be less dangerous than impeaching judges he doesn’t like. If Musk wants Congress to play pure political games, “Good,” then he should be ready. Stuff happens, things change. We will see how things go but I don’t think anyone will see Judge Engelmayer going anywhere.

God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter-X at @JasonMiciak and please now follow me on Bluesky – the “next” platform. 

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