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Donald Trump, Elon Musk slam after federal judges block birthright citizenship, other executive orders
Elon Musk and President Trump criticised federal judges for blocking the latter's executive orders, including those on birthright citizenship.
As the friction between the judiciary and the government in the United States widens, Elon Musk, one of the staunchest supporters of Donald Trump, along with his other backers, launched attacks on some federal judges for blocking the President's executive order, including the one that sought to end birthright citizenship.
In a post on X, Elon Musk said, “We should at least ATTEMPT to fire this junky jurist. The notion of having a judge job for life, no matter how bad the judgments, is ridiculous! Enough is enough,” while referring to a federal judge who ordered some websites of some US health agencies to restore their services after a Trump order asked them to shut down, reported news agency Reuters.
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration to restore their websites after they were asked to delete them in compliance with a Trump executive order, reported CBS news.
Trump also took to his own social media platform Truth Social to attack the judges, calling them “highly political” who want him to “slow down”. However, Trump and Musk addressed a press conference on Tuesday where the President said he would comply with the court orders, the report said.
While addressing the press conference, Trump said, "We want to weed out the corruption. And it seems hard to believe that a judge could say, we don't want you to do that…So maybe we have to look at the judges."
This statement came after a federal judge’s decision to stop Trump’s order to freeze federal funding was upheld by an appeals court on Tuesday. The White House, however, said that they would carry on the court battle.
Not just Elon Musk
Not just Elon Musk, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also jumped in to lash out at federal judges after the order. "These unlawful injunctions are a continuation of the weaponization of justice against President Trump," she said, according to the report.
US Vice President JD Vance also expressed his reservations on a judge’s authority over executive power through a post on X. “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,” he said.
However, in sharp contrast, some Republican loyalists commented in favour of the judge’s orders. Asking the administration to abide by the law and court rulings, Josh Hawley, a senator from Missouri, said, "You may think that's not the right ruling, but you know, they're still the law," reported ABC news.
