A majority of Republicans believe that federal judges should be able to review Donald Trump‘s policies, despite the president’s and billionaire ally Elon Musk‘s strong criticism of judges who have blocked their efforts, according to a new poll.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment on Sunday.
Why It Matters
Trump and Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, have railed against federal judges who have blocked or slowed executive orders, as well as actions by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which have faced legal challenges. They have even gone so far as to call for the impeachment of federal judges.
“People are shocked by what is going on with the Court System,” Trump wrote in a Saturday post on Truth Social. He went on to slam what he called “Radical Left Judges.”
What to Know
New polling published Sunday by CBS News and YouGov showed that a majority of Republicans agree that federal judge should be able to review Trump’s policies.
The survey showed that 56 percent of Republican respondents said the judges should be allowed to review the president’s actions. Conversely, 44 percent of Republicans said they should not be able to. Significantly higher majorities of Democrats and independents supported judicial review, at 91 percent and 83 percent respectively.
On the flip side, however, a majority of Republicans, 59 percent, also supported the idea of impeaching judges who ruled against Trump’s policies. Democrats and independents rejected this idea, with 81 percent and 73 percent opposed respectively.
The survey included 2,609 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. The poll was conducted from March 27 to 28.
It is highly unlikely that a federal judge ruling against Trump could be successfully impeached and removed from office given current political realities.
Republicans could potentially push through an impeachment with their narrow majority control in the House, but would not succeed in the Senate, where it would need 67 senators to support it. The GOP currently holds just 53 Senate seats, and it’s unlikely that even all Republicans would support removal without evidence of a crime or serious malpractice.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement earlier this month rebuking calls to impeach a federal judge who ruled against Trump.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” he said.
Trump responded to Roberts’ comment in a Fox News interview, saying, “Well, he didn’t mention my name in the statement.”
What People Are Saying
Elon Musk in an X, formerly Twitter, post on March 19: “This is a judicial coup. We need 60 senators to impeach the judges and restore rule of the people.” Notably, the billionaire was wrong about 60 senators, as it would require 67, a two-thirds majority of the Senate.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in Friday remarks at Georgetown Law Center: “More than ever, we have to get up and explain and repeat and explain again why judicial independence is critical to everyone’s freedom, because arbitrary power is just that, and it means that anyone is going to be subject to unfairness at someone else’s whim.”
Representative Dusty Johnson, a South Dakota Republican, told The Hill: “We shouldn’t impeach judges because they render a decision we disagree with. The remedy for bad decisions is getting them overturned on appeal.”
What Happens Next?
Trump’s and Musk’s efforts are expected to face continued pushback in federal courts. In instances where the Trump administration actions are blocked, they have the right to appeal to higher courts, with the Supreme Court being the final arbiter.
Although the Court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority, several of the conservative justices have previously ruled against Trump’s preferred outcomes. It’s unclear how all the ongoing litigation will ultimately play out.
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