J.D. Vance Says Trump Can Ignore Judges

J.D. Vance signaled the Trump administration may try to ignore judicial orders, which could trigger a constitutional crisis.

The vice president wrote on X, “If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”

Vance also shared a post by Adrian Vermeule, professor of constitutional law at Harvard, who wrote, “Judicial interference with legitimate acts of state, especially the internal functioning of a co-equal branch, is a violation of the separation of powers.”

Elon Musk, who has led Donald Trump‘s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as it attempts to dismantle and take over federal agencies, signaled he may also support defying the courts. He reshared an X post by “Insurrection Barbie” that said in part, “I don’t like the precedent it sets when you defy a judicial ruling, but I’m just wondering what other options are these judges leaving us.”

Democratic Rep. Daniel Goldman, lead counsel in the first impeachment of Donald Trump, wrote on X in response to Vance: “It’s called the ‘rule of law’ @jdvance. Our constitution created three co-equal branches of government to provide checks and balances on each other (‘separation of powers’). The judiciary makes sure that the executive follows the law. If you do, then you won’t have problems.”

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, who co-chaired the Jan. 6 committee, weighed in, “If you believe any of the multiple federal courts that have ruled against you so far are exceeding their statutory or Constitutional authority, your recourse is to appeal. You don’t get to rage-quit the Republic just because you are losing. That’s tyranny.”

Judges have stepped in to halt or pause a number of executive actions Trump has taken in his first weeks in office as well as Musk’s access to sensitive government data. More than 30 lawsuits filed in district courts across the country seek to challenge the Trump administration’s executive orders.

Last week, a judge temporarily blocked Musk and the DOGE team’s access to confidential Treasury Department payment system data. In issuing the temporary restraining order, U.S. District Judge Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ordered anyone who gained access to this data after Trump’s inauguration “to immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems.” Engelmayer wrote that the plaintiffs — 19 states and unions that have sued the administration — could suffer “irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief.”

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Friday from placing more than 2,000 U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees on administrative leave and ordered the reinstatement of 500 workers already put on leave. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols also ordered that the administration cannot order USAID employees evacuate their host countries before Feb. 14 at 11:59 p.m. The pause will give the courts time to hear “expedited” arguments to decide whether the actions are legal.

Days after Trump was inaugurated, a federal judge temporarily halted Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.” U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, said in January in response to a suit by four states, “I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one.… I have difficulty understanding how a member of the Bar could state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order […] It just boggles my mind.” The ACLU and other states are also suing over this executive order.

A temporary restraining order from U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan suspended a Trump administration effort to freeze billions in federal financial assistance payments in a suit brought by nonprofits. U.S. District Judge John McConnell also issued a temporary restraining order over the payment freeze in a lawsuit brought by Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and the Washington, D.C. The administration has since rescinded the Office of Management and Budget memo.