Background: President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Evan Vucci). Inset left: U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer (U.S. Courts/YouTube). Inset right: Senior U.S. District Judge John Bates (U.S. House of Representatives).
Outspoken allies of Donald Trump have loudly advocated for the impeachment of federal judges who they say have acted illegally against the president — and now two more federal judges are sounding the alarm.
As Law&Crime has previously reported, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Republican from Wisconsin, in February filed House Resolution 143, which accuses U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York of “high crimes and misdemeanors” over a temporary restraining order the judge had issued blocking staffers at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to sensitive Treasury Department data and requiring all the relevant Elon Musk-aligned employees to “destroy” any copies of documents that were previously downloaded.
Also in February, Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee, filed House Resolution 157, which accuses Senior U.S. District Judge John Bates of “high crimes and misdemeanors” over a temporary restraining order directing four administrative agencies to restore a series of webpages and datasets that had been removed from public health websites. DOGE head Elon Musk also joined a pile-on started by Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, and, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said: “We should at least ATTEMPT to fire this junky jurist.”
Now, two judges — including one appointed by Trump himself — are speaking out, telling reporters that impeaching judges may potentially send the country down a dangerous road.
“It’s a shame to see people attacking judges simply for doing their level best to do their job,” said Chief Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Jeffrey Sutton on a call with reporters after a meeting of the U.S. Judicial Conference, NBC News reported. Sutton chairs the Judicial Conference’s executive committee, NBC noted.
“Criticism is no surprise, it’s part of the job, but I do think when it gets to the level of a threat, it really is about attacking judicial independence, and that’s just not good for the system or the country,” Sutton added, according to NBC.
Sutton was appointed to the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2003 by George W. Bush.
U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan, appointed by Trump in 2018 to the Court of Appeals for the Second U.S. Circuit, echoed that sentiment, also while speaking to reporters after the judicial conference, Bloomberg Law reported.
“Impeachment is not — shouldn’t be — a short-circuiting of that process, and so it is concerning if impeachment is used in a way that is designed to do just that,” said Sullivan, according to the report.
Sullivan also discussed violent incidents involving judges, including New Jersey-based U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, whose son was murdered at her home by an assailant who was targeting her.
“Everybody should be taking this seriously, because our system of government is premised on three independent branches and a judiciary that can function independently. That’s what makes it work,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan chairs the Judicial Conference’s executive committee, and said that threats of impeachment have happened before, Bloomberg reported.
“One thing worth keeping in mind is if we dilute the standards for impeachment, that’s not just a problem for judges,” Sutton said. “That’s a problem for all three branches of government.”
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