A Republican lawmaker introduced articles of impeachment against a Manhattan federal judge who issued a temporary court order blocking Elon Musk’s efficiency team from accessing Treasury Department information.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) introduced the two articles against US District Judge Paul Engelmayer on Wednesday, accusing the jurist of judicial misconduct, as well as abuses of his judicial authority and power.
Van Orden alleged the judge acted “on purely political grounds” when he issued the Feb. 8 order barring members of Musk’s team from accessing department payment systems. The order seemed to also apply to other department appointees, like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and was later altered by another federal judge.
The first article of impeachment alleges that Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, also showed bias against Americans who voted for Trump through his ruling.
The second article claims that Van Orden “abused his judicial office by using his authority to further personal or political interests, contrary to the constitutional responsibility to apply the law impartially, including the improper handling of this case in a manner that demonstrates favoritism or undue influence, undermining the fundamental principles of justice.”
Another House Republican, Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, has also promised to file articles of impeachment against Engelmayer over the same court order. Crane posted Wednesday on X, the Musk-owned platform formerly known as Twitter, that he would be filing his articles of impeachment on Friday.
He attached a draft of his resolution, which includes a single article of impeachment for abuse of power, alleging that the judge violated his oath office by using “his judicial position to advance personal interests and political gain.”
A spokesperson for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, where Engelmayer sits, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
The acts against Engelmayer come after Musk called for judicial impeachments, in response to judges issuing court orders that blocked many Trump administration actions. Federal judges can be impeached and removed from office for committing “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Judicial impeachments are rare. The last judge to be impeached and removed from office was G. Thomas Porteous, for charges of accepting bribes and making false statements. He was convicted by the Senate and removed from his seat in 2010.
Removal from the bench would require two-thirds of the Senate to vote to convict, and key members have pushed back on Musk’s impeachment comments.
Trump was impeached twice during his last term as president. He was acquitted in 2019 on charges he conditioned military support to Ukraine on the country investigating the family of future President Joe Biden, Trump’s political rival. Trump was again impeached, but acquitted, over the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the US Capitol by his supporters as he rejected Biden’s 2020 election victory.
House Republicans last year impeached Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, but the Democratic-controlled Senate dismissed the charges.
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