WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s attacks on the nation’s federal judges was met with outrage — and ridicule — by Democrats and others in the nation’s capital this week.
Trump and the MAGA world have not been happy with the growing number of judicial reversals of the efforts of his administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Those include a San Francisco judge’s ruling that the Trump administration must rehire thousands of federal employees and a Maryland judge’s order to restore email and computer access to all employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development, most of whom have been placed on administrative leave.
But the judicial ruling that really got under Trump’s skin was made by Washington, D.C., federal Judge James Boasberg, who on Saturday ordered the administration to turn around planes carrying alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador and return them to the United States.
The administration, which cited authority under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, did not comply with that order, prompting concerns about a constitutional showdown. In addition, Trump and his allies demanded that Congress impeach Boasberg.
That elicited a rebuke from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in a prepared statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
But Robert’s admonition fell on deaf ears. Late Thursday, Trump called for a stop to nationwide injunctions and suggested the Supreme Court should intervene.
“Stop nationwide injunctions now, before it is too late,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If Justice Roberts and the United States Supreme Court do not fix this toxic and unprecedented situation IMMEDIATELY, our Country is in very serious trouble!”
Trump has also continued to call for the impeachment of Boasberg and other “crooked” judges. So did Musk, who was upbraided for posting on X, the social media platform he owns, that Boasberg’s ruling was “a judicial coup.”
“We need 60 senators to impeach the judges and restore rule of the people,” Musk said in his post.
Fact-checking commenters quickly ridiculed Musk because the U.S. Senate does not impeach; that’s up to the U.S. House of Representatives, which votes to send articles of impeachment to the Senate, which considers the evidence, hears witnesses and votes to acquit or convict the impeached official. And it takes two-thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes, not 60, to vote to convict.
Regardless, Musk seems intent on stoking the fires of impeaching judges. The New York Times reported that Musk has contributed this week to the campaigns of Republican lawmakers who support the impeachment of federal judges, including Reps. 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.
Gill, a freshman, has made a name for himself in the MAGA world for his calls to deport Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota’s 5th District, a Somalia-born U.S. citizen, and for introducing a resolution to impeach Boasberg in the Senate this week.
The New York Times also said Musk has donated to the campaign of Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa.
Will she or won’t she?
The usually straight-talking Rep. Angie Craig, D-2nd District, has been Hamlet-like when it comes to whether she’ll enter the race to replace Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., who has announced her retirement.
Craig has not said she’ll enter the race, but has said constituents are urging her to run.
Craig told MinnPost she is “moving closer to a decision” but declined to say when she will make that choice. She also said she’s “talking to a lot of Minnesotans” about whether she should enter the race this week, which she is spending in her district since the U.S. House is on break.
But there’s not a lot of time for her to make up her mind. Craig raised an enormous amount of money to win re-election to her House seat last year and spent most of it — about $7.8 million.
A U.S. Senate race will cost even more. So the money chase is on, and she will have to compete with the two fellow Democrats vying for Smith’s seat — Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and former state Sen. Melisa López Franzen — to compete in next year’s Democratic primary.
The first reports of fundraising for the Minnesota Senate race will be filed with the Federal Elections Commission next month.
A missed deposit to the ‘green bank’
Lawsuits filed by Democratic attorneys general against Trump policies are proliferating and one of the latest involves $25 million that was due Minnesota’s “green bank,” which funds clean energy and greenhouse gas emissions-reduction projects.
Minnesota’s money — and money for similar projects in other states — has been frozen by the Trump administration, prompting the lawsuit, which accuses Trump of violating Congress’ authority to allocate funds.
“I’m leading this coalition of attorneys general in opposing yet one more illegal power grab by the Trump administration because it is our job to stand up for the Constitution and the rule of law when others try to run roughshod over it,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a prepared statement.
The money for the “green bank,” officially known as the Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority, came from the Environmental Protection Agency and was already allocated to Minnesota and other states.
Funding was appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act, one of President Biden’s top accomplishments that Trump is seeking to dismantle.
Ellison’s office said Minnesota’s green bank is a key player in state efforts to meet its goals of being 100% carbon-free by 2040 and net zero on greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The lawsuit filed this week by the Democratic attorneys general not only sues the EPA for withholding the money but also names Citibank as a co-defendant. The lawsuit alleges the bank that holds the funds for the EPA improperly “capitulated” to a letter from the FBI that demanded the freezing of those funds.
In case you missed it:
- We reported on postal workers who rallied in Minnesota and across the country against threatened cuts to the U.S. Postal Service – or even its possible sale.
- Michael Nolan looked at the Trump administration’s plans to cut federal office leases across Minnesota.
- Forrest Peterson, meanwhile, wrote about dissension in the 7th Congressional District, where constituents of Michelle Fischbach have organized their own meetings in lieu of Republicans shying away from town hall meetings.
- And Winter Keefer explained why state and local law enforcement agencies can’t hold people under ICE detainers.
Your questions and comments
A reader commented on a story about concerns that the unions representing the 640,000 employees of the U.S. Postal Service have over Trump administration plans to cut its workforce and even privatize the service, which could have a big impact in rural Minnesota.
“Well written article on impacts of closure and reduced services,” the reader said. “Of course, rural people mistakenly trust Trump and will not see it coming — and labor under the false impression that if they explain the problems, the decisions will be reversed. They don’t understand that this is about billionaires making big money and breaking public service unions, which help lift rural wages.”
Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond.
Ana Radelat
Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.
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