Elon Musk called on the US House to impeach multiple judges who have blocked his government cost-cutting crusade, an extraordinary statement that threatens to create a chilling effect on the federal bench.
“There needs to be an immediate wave of judicial impeachments, not just one,” Musk said on his social media platform X.
Judges have put the brakes on several of President Donald Trump’s most sweeping agenda items during his first month in office, preventing billionaire Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing some sensitive information or pushing out thousands of federal workers.
Read More: Musk Increases Attacks on Judges Who Rule That DOGE Must Pause
Musk’s biggest target so far has been US District Judge Paul Engelmayer, who on Saturday temporarily blocked Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing some Treasury Department information and ordered the destruction of data they’ve already gathered. But Musk has labeled several federal judges as being “corrupt.”
“This turns the Constitution on its head,” Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a fervent Trump ally and the chair of the House’s new government efficiency subcommittee, said at a Wednesday hearing of Engelmayer’s ruling. “We will hold this judge, and others who try to stop the will of the people and their elected leaders, accountable.”
The prominence of the federal courts has risen in recent weeks as the Republican-led Congress has largely backed Trump’s orders and Musk’s actions, even as the president challenges the legislature’s constitutionally protected power of the purse.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who met Monday with Musk, signaled support for the administration’s efforts to rein in federal spending, saying Trump is allowed some discretion in directing federal funds. He likened Musk’s team’s work to a “forensic audit.”
“I think the courts should take a step back and let this process play out,” Johnson told reporters.
Representative Melanie Stansbury, the top Democrat on Greene’s committee, on Wednesday signaled her party — which is in the minority in both chambers — would continue to challenge Musk and Trump in the courts.
“My colleagues across the aisle who are asking us to get out of the way and stop trying to block things in the courts, let me tell you: We do not work for an unelected billionaire,” Stansbury said. “We work for the American people.”
The constitutional bar for impeachment is treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Only 15 judges have been impeached, the last one in 2010.
It’s unclear whether the House would proceed with any judicial impeachment proceedings, and the Senate would be unlikely to vote to convict. But any action in Congress to unseat a judge on the basis of his or her rulings would be politically explosive.
(Updates starting in third paragraph)
To contact the reporters on this story:
Dana Hull in San Francisco at dhull12@bloomberg.net;
Emily Birnbaum in Washington at ebirnbaum3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Megan Scully at mscully32@bloomberg.net
Peter Jeffrey
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