While Elon Musk's official role in the administration of President Donald Trump is intentionally occluded, it's clear from their joint interviews and press conferences that the billionaire campaign financier holds some serious sway.
The DOGE head moved beyond the loose bounds of his government-slashing semi-agency in the wee hours of Sunday morning, calling for a judge who blocked Trump's attempts to speed up deportations to be impeached.
Trump evoked the rarely used Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan nationals suspected to be members of the gang Tren de Aragua. The act grants the president wartime powers in the event of an invasion from a foreign government. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg objected to the framing of the gang as a foreign government on Saturday, ordering that deportations be halted for 14 days while the legality of Trump's deportation orders is weighed by the courts.
"Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished,” Boasberg said. “Make sure it’s complied with immediately."
In response to the ruling, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, said he would file articles of impeachment against Boasberg. Musk shared Gill's post to X announcing the planned impeachment move, calling the action "necessary."
Musk's response comes shortly after a judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate scores of probationary workers fired using DOGE's blunt methods. In his ruling, Northern District of California Judge William Alsup called the government's claims that the layoffs were performance-based a "sham to try to avoid statutory requirements."
