Rep. Crane introduces articles of impeachment against judge who blocked DOGE from accessing Treasury

Republican Arizona Rep. Eli Crane on Friday formally introduced articles of impeachment against the federal judge who blocked the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department information. 

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration earlier this month that prevented DOGE from getting full access to the Treasury Department, after 19 Democratic state attorneys general argued DOGE having full access to the department would violate the law.

Crane claimed in a statement that the judge overreached with the order and that his actions were a "clear threat to democracy." 

"Activist judges cannot stop the President from executing his Article II powers," Crane said. "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.

"This is obviously judicial overreach and a clear threat to democracy," he continued. "If these partisan judges want to be politicians, they should resign and run for office."

The articles of impeachment charge Engelmayer with abusing his power in order to "prioritize personal and political affiliations over the duty of impartiality."

Georgia GOP Rep. Andrew Clyde is also preparing articles of impeachment against a different federal judge, for pausing the Trump administration's efforts to freeze federal funding.

Although the House has the power to introduce articles of impeachment against judges, presidents, and other elected officials, it cannot remove them. The Senate votes to remove a judge, and would need two-thirds of the chamber's votes to do so. Republicans only hold 53 seats in the upper chamber.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.