On Wednesday, a House Republican unveiled articles of impeachment against a federal judge in New York who temporarily restricted Trump administration officials, including the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), from accessing a payment system of the Treasury Department.
The articles of impeachment introduced by Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) accuse U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, of high crimes and misdemeanors after his recent order that favored 19 Democrat state attorneys general who had sued over DOGE’s ability to access the system that reportedly oversees trillions of dollars in payments each year.
When Crane shared his articles to X on Wednesday, presidential adviser Elon Musk — who has been spearheading the DOGE effort to reduce government waste — responded, “Good.” Crane said in a reply: “If these activist judges want to be politicians, they should resign and run for office.”
One of two articles that appear in Crane’s resolution, which is available online, alleges Engelmayer “engaged in judicial misconduct” when the judge halted Trump’s executive order establishing and implementing DOGE on “purely political grounds, demonstrating clear bias and prejudice against the President and the 74,000,000 Americans who voted for him.”
It further states that Engelmayer “acted outside the bounds of judicial propriety,” including “by submitting this ruling that demonstrates clear bias and prejudice against the President;” and “by willfully disregarding established legal precedent in the issuance of rulings, by submitting this injunction in the middle of the night, which may have been done with the intent to influence the outcome of cases to favor certain parties.”
The second article says Engelmayer “has 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.”
Judges have been the subject of impeachment proceedings over the course of United States history. Some cases have resulted in a guilty verdict and removal from office. It remains to be seen whether this latest push will be taken up by leadership in the House, which is currently led by Republicans.
Crane revealed last week he would be drafting articles of impeachment after Engelmayer issued the temporary restraining order and before a second federal judge kept it in place while considering a preliminary injunction.
“Partisan judges abusing their positions is a threat to democracy,” Crane said on X. “The left has done ‘irreparable harm’ to this country. President Trump and his team at @DOGE are trying to fix it.” In a second post, the congressman added: “This is obviously judicial overreach. Judge Engelmayer is attempting to stop White House employees from accessing the very systems they oversee. Where in the constitution does it say a President and his team cannot root out obvious waste, fraud and abuse?”
