Elon Musk has reportedly donated to seven Republican members of Congress, all of whom support the Trump administration’s calls to impeach or ignore federal judges who have halted parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Musk, who has claimed in recent days that such judges are leading a “judicial coup,” gave thousands of dollars in donations each to Representatives Eli Crane of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin and Brandon Gill of Texas, and Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, according to The New York Times.
The reported recipients are among the loudest voices in Congress pushing to impeach or to otherwise constrain the judges.
Rep. Gill has filed articles of impeachment against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the Trump administration to turn around a group of recent deportation flights to El Salvador amid a challenge to the White House’s invocation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act for rapid deportations, a directive the administration ignored.
The Arizona congressman, meanwhile, has sought to impeach a federal judge that temporarily restricted Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency program from accessing Treasury Department data.
“We didn’t do it so Elon Musk would give us a campaign donation,” Crane told the newspaper. “But I think it’s great that individuals like Elon are throwing support behind those of us willing to take action.”
The Trump administration and its allies have been putting intensive pressure on federal judges who have ruled against it in court, arguing that the officials are partisan and should not be able to refute the will of the president because they weren’t themselves elected — a major departure from the U.S. system’s core principle of separation of powers.
Musk recently reshared a post from conservative activist Charlie Kirk calling federal judges “gavel-wielding dictators,” with the unelected White House adviser adding that he wants Congress to impeach the judges and “restore rule of the people.”
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday accused those challenging administration actions of attempt to “judge shop — to pick judges who are clearly acting as partisan activists from the bench in an attempt to derail this president’s agenda.”
In a recent Truth Social post, Trump claimed Boasberg was attempting to overstep his authority.
“If a President doesn’t have the right to throw murderers, and other criminals, out of our Country because a Radical Left Lunatic Judge wants to assume the role of President, then our Country is in very big trouble, and destined to fail!” Trump wrote.
Leavitt referred to Boasberg as a “Democrat activist” who was appointed by former President Barack Obama. But she was corrected at the press conference that the judge was appointed by George W. Bush and was only later elevated to his current post by Obama.
Legal experts have warned that the Trump administration is already flouting federal court orders, setting the stage for a larger constitutional crisis.
Last month, former Trump administration official Ty Cobb told The Independent he’s concerned the White House appears ready to ignore the independent judiciary in most cases, though he pointed to one exception.
“Unless and until the Supreme Court intervenes, because that’s the only court he seems to listen to,” Cobb told The Independent.
This week, Supreme Court Justice John Roberts made a rare public statement, following the Trump administration’s attempts to remove Boasberg from the deportations case.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts wrote. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
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