The attack on our federal judges and 3rd branch of government

Our judiciary acts as a crucial check on both the legislative and executive branches of our government and is the last line of defense against the other two branches' ability to implement policies that would go against the rule of law. As such, the need for independent federal judges is what has made our country exist for over 250 years. But having three independent branches of government is not what the Trump administration wants.

Our country's founders understood the need for an independent judicial branch. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence declared that King George III of England "made Judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries." In contrast, our Constitution was written with the idea of judicial independence in mind, outlining that judges be respected and protected from any reduction in their wages, to safeguard them from both the President and the Congress. Neither branch could jeopardize or retaliate against judges for an unpopular ruling. Our Country has not seen an attempt by the executive branch to expand their power since Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to pack the courts by allowing him to appoint six additional judges to the Supreme Court after he won the 1936 presidential election. No attempts to expand executive power have threatened judicial independence as much as the most recent attacks the new administration's allies have issued against federal judges.

 Elon Musk, the recently appointed head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has openly taken on the judiciary on his social media X. On Feb. 11 he posted, "We are witnessing the attempted coup of American democracy by radical left activists posing as judges!" Musk's missive came in the wake of rulings against various early executive orders issued by President Trump. Musk's comment was made the same day Senior U.S. District Judge John Bates (appointed by President George W. Bush) ordered U.S. health agencies such as the CDC and FDA to restore their websites after they had been removed in response to an Executive Order mandating that "gender ideology extremism" be removed from these sites. This comment was also made on the same day another federal judge, Judge Paul Engelmayer (appointed by President Obama) of the Southern District of New York, issued a ruling to temporarily halt DOGE's efforts to access Treasury Department records, which included the private records of many American citizens.

Musk further threatened the judiciary, posting that "there needs to be an immediate wave of judicial impeachments." Trump's allies have attempted to erode the credibility and efficiency of the judiciary, with such statements criticizing them as corrupt and radical. Reuters reported that U.S. Marshalls have warned federal judges of unusually high threat levels.

In response to such threats, the American Bar Association issued a statement, saying "These bold assertions, designed to intimidate judges by threatening removal if they do not rule the government's way, cross the line," and that such comments "create a risk to the physical security of judges and have no place in our society." Musk's comments have continued, with him again posting on social media platform X on Feb. 25 that the United States does not have a democracy, but rather a "TYRANNY of the JUDICIARY" to his over 200 million followers. These comments clearly display Trump's allies' desire to impeach all judges who defy or act against the Trump administration and are consistent with their efforts to coerce judges into compliance through intimidation.

In the past weeks, efforts by Trump's allies' efforts to intimidate judges have only escalated. Republican lawmakers in the House have recently introduced resolutions to impeach three different federal judges, including Judge Engelmayer and Judge Bates, for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Impeachment of federal judges is a notoriously rigorous and difficult process and has largely only been reserved for judges who have engaged in serious criminal behavior. The successful impeachment and removal of a federal judge necessitates the House to bring forth an impeachment action and for the Senate to render a conviction by a two-thirds majority vote. In the past 250 years of our Country, only eight federal judges were removed from their positions. Recent resolutions introduced by Republican lawmakers are patently vindictive and only serve to punish judges who rule against the Trump administration. Other Republican judges, such as Judge Richard Sullivan, who Trump appointed to the Federal Appeals Court in New York during his first term, have spoken out against the impeachment attempts, commenting that "It is concerning" if impeachment is used to "short circuit" the appeals process.

Whether these impeachment threats materialize or not, they are designed to create a chilling effect in which judges fear the repercussions of rendering an adverse decision against Trump's policies or orders. The public nature of these threats has put judges' safety at risk, as federal judges in multiple districts have expressed concern regarding their physical security, with some judges stating that they have received a rise in threats directed toward them following the attacks on the courts.

Threats to the judiciary are just part of the threats to the legal establishment at large. This is demonstrated by President Trump's recent March 6 Executive Orders targeting law firms such as Perkins Coie, with the White House release citing the firm's supposed "dishonest and dangerous activity," as well as their association with Democrat leaders such as Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and voting rights cases.

These egregious attacks cannot be ignored. Trump's allies advocating for the removal of judges and accusing such judges of committing "high crimes and misdemeanors" for rendering decisions against the administration is an unprecedented attack against the very idea of judicial independence that our founders envisioned. Our country is in serious trouble when we attack the judiciary, the one branch put in place by our founders to keep the other two branches responsible and democratic.