Vice President JD Vance isn’t known for sugarcoating his opinions, and his latest statement on judicial overreach is a prime example of why he’s quickly become one of the most refreshing voices in American politics. In just three lines, Vance dismantled the absurdity of a recent federal ruling that blocks Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system—a system that handles trillions of taxpayer dollars.
Vance’s post was simple, direct, and brutally accurate:
“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.”
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.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 9, 2025
Boom. That’s how you explain the separation of powers in under 30 seconds.
The controversy stems from Judge Paul Engelmayer, an Obama-appointed federal judge in New York, who issued an emergency injunction preventing DOGE from accessing Treasury records. The lawsuit, unsurprisingly spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James and 18 other Democrat attorneys general, claims Musk’s team was given unauthorized access to sensitive financial data.
But here’s the kicker: Engelmayer’s ruling didn’t just block DOGE—it explicitly barred all political appointees from accessing the system, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who literally runs the department. This isn’t about protecting sensitive information; it’s about undermining President Trump’s administration and stopping efforts to root out waste, fraud, and corruption.
Vance’s analogy hits hard because it exposes the absurdity of judicial overreach. Imagine if a judge tried to dictate battlefield strategy to a general or told the attorney general who they could or couldn’t prosecute. We’d all recognize that as unconstitutional. But when it comes to the executive branch’s fiscal authority, suddenly activist judges think they’re in charge.
Even Elon Musk weighed in, calling the ruling “judicial insanity,” and he’s right. If unelected judges can block the President from overseeing how taxpayer money is spent, we no longer have a functioning republic—we have a judiciary acting like an unelected ruling class.
This ruling is absolutely insane!
How on Earth are we supposed to stop fraud and waste of taxpayer money without looking at how money is spent?
That’s literally impossible!
Something super shady is going to protect scammers. https://t.co/7Eyy9ZsN7A
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2025
It’s not just overreach. It’s a constitutional crisis.
Vance nailed it. Musk exposed it. And Trump’s administration is fighting it. This battle isn’t just about Treasury records—it’s about defending the very structure of American government.