JD Vance sends constitutional law experts into meltdown amid fears Trump will defy judges
President Donald Trump's public challenge to the judicial branch of government is triggering a liberal meltdown among Democrats and constitutional scholars across the country.
Trump's special appointment of billionaire Elon Musk to run a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sparked a flood of legal challenges, followed by judicial rulings trying to slow down his efforts.
Now, Vice President JD Vance - who studied law at Yale - has raised the stakes and criticized judges on social media for issuing rulings to halt Trump's executive orders and actions.
'If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal,' Vance said. 'If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal.'
Trump agreed with Vance's assertion, while speaking on Air Force One.
'The day you're not allowed to look for theft and fraud etcetera, then we don't have much of a country,' he said in response to a question from DailyMail.com. 'No judge should be allowed to make that kind of decision. It's a disgrace.'
Democrats continue to slam Musk and his team as they scrutinize the federal government, acting swiftly to cut government grants and reduce the workforce.
And on Monday alone, five different federal judges ordered halts on Trump's actions.
That included his directive to end birthright citizenship, slashing funding at the National institutes of health, a freeze on federal grants, and his firing of the government's ethics czar.
One federal judge also temporarily restricted DOGE's access to the Treasury Department's payment and data systems.
United States Vice-President JD Vance sparked a controversy over a statement he made defending the Trump administration's actions
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One
The White House condemned that legal effort from an 'activist judge' as 'frivolous,' and out of line.
It noted that Trump's Senate-confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had given Musk access to the data.
On Friday, a federal judge in Washington also ordered a pause on Trump's efforts to put 2,2000 USAID employees on leave.
Trump's attempted freeze of federal grants was also halted by a judge on January 31.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island said the White House had violated a court order to lift a freeze on federal spending.
Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley told the New York Times that Trump was creating 'a constitutional crisis.
'There have been so many unconstitutional and illegal actions in the first 18 days of the Trump presidency. We never have seen anything like this,' he said.
Vance argued that the judicial branch was out of line in trying to restrict the administration's orders pertaining to the executive branch of government.
The vice president shared a legal opinion on social media that reflected his argument.
'Where the Executive has sole and plenary power under the Constitution - as in commanding military operations or exercising prosecutorial discretion - judges cannot constitutionally interfere,' Yale Law School constitutional law scholar Jed Rubenfeld wrote.
He added that 'JD is correct.'
If the Trump administration ultimately defies judicial orders, it could lead to a significant escalation of judicial actions that would quickly make it's way to the Supreme Court.
DOGE has moved forward at a breakneck pace, as Musk's lieutenants have been given the green light by Trump to dive into government systems despite ongoing protests from Democrats and federal workers.
JD Vance is on a foreign trip with his wife Usha this week
DOGE, run by Elon Musk, has moved forward at a breakneck pace
Trump stands next to Elon Musk and Kid Rock
Attorneys general of Democratic states are rapidly challenging all of Trump's executive actions in an attempt to slow his rapid cuts.
On Tuesday, the president decried 'activists and highly political judges' for trying to slow down his executive orders and the work underway by DOGE.
'Losing this momentum will be very detrimental to finding the TRUTH, which is turning out to be a disaster for those involved in running our Government,' he wrote. 'Much left to find. No Excuses!!!'
Trump continues to celebrate Musk's achievements, asking him to expand his efforts to the Pentagon and the Department of Education.
'BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE BEING FOUND. CAMPAIGN PROMISE. IMPORTANT FOR AMERICA!!!' he wrote on Truth social in all-caps.
