Top Trump administration officials are openly challenging the judiciary’s role as a check on executive power as President Donald Trump’s agenda faces increasing legal hurdles.
Over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance and Tesla owner Elon Musk, who heads the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, criticised a federal judge’s decision that blocked Musk’s team from accessing Treasury Department records.
As per AP, the ruling led to an intense pushback from Trump allies, with some questioning the legitimacy of judicial oversight itself.
Vance, in a post on X, wrote, “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.”

Musk, in an overnight post, called for the judge’s impeachment, describing him as “a corrupt judge protecting corruption.”
Musk’s team had been investigating government spending but was temporarily barred from accessing a Treasury system containing the personal financial data of millions of Americans.
According to the New York Times, Vance has previously argued that presidents should defy court orders that interfere with their constitutional authority
Meanwhile, deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller framed the judiciary’s interventions as “an assault on the very idea of democracy itself.” As per Fox News, he claimed that an “unelected shadow force” within the government was obstructing Trump’s efforts to reform federal agencies.
The legal challenges come as judges have temporarily halted several of Trump’s key initiatives, including his executive order to end birthright citizenship and his efforts to dismantle government agencies. A hearing on the Treasury case is set for February 14, with Democrats warning of a constitutional crisis.
“This is a red alert moment,” Senator Chris Murphy said on ABC’s ‘This Week’. “Our democracy is at risk”, said Chris.