Representative Eli Crane (R-AZ) is introducing articles of impeachment against U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York.
Earlier in February, Judge Engelmayer blocked the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk and associates, including the Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, from accessing sensitive Treasury records for two reasons.
First, Engelmayer argued that DOGE did not have the legal backing. He also warned that personal information could be leaked and Treasury systems could be hacked.
The Judge issued the block after 19 state attorneys general, all Democrats, including New York's Letitia James and Arizona's Kris Mayes, sued DOGE and the Trump Administration.
In his press release, Rep. Crane called this "an overtly political emergency request by 19 Democratic attorneys general aiming to prevent Trump administration officials from accessing a payment system within the Treasury Department."
However, as Rep. Crane pointed out in his articles of impeachment, DOGE and especially Secretary Bessent are still federal appointees and thus had the right to access Treasury records.
Therefore, "By restricting the Executive Branch from performing its duties, Judge Engelmayer unlawfully violated the separation of powers," the Arizona Congressman continued.
In a statement, Crane added, "Activist judges cannot stop the President from executing his Article II powers. White House employees have every right to access the very systems they oversee. President Trump campaigned on rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse from the federal government, and the American people gave him a mandate to do so."
He boldly suggested that "this is obviously judicial overreach and a clear threat to democracy. If these partisan judges want to be politicians, they should resign and run for office."
Crane's articles follow another lawsuit filed against the Trump Administration by Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, whom President Trump recently fired.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and 19 other state attorneys general filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the President, arguing that "Because [Dellinger] is a principal officer exercising executive power on behalf of the President, the Constitution requires that he be removable at the will of the President."
