OUR VIEW: Derrick Van Orden's impeachment ploy is absurd, dangerous

The Prairie du Chien Republican sought to impeach a federal judge last week for daring to rule — in a preliminary order, meaning it wasn’t even final — against the Trump administration.

Few of Van Orden’s colleagues appear to be taking his reckless accusations against the judge seriously, which is reassuring. His impeachment ploy so far doesn’t have any cosponsors.

Were such a flimsy impeachment attempt to succeed, it would undermine the whole point of having a judiciary, which is to rule on the law independent of the executive and legislative branches, thereby ensuring a separation of powers and protection of individual freedoms.

Van Orden makes a mockery of it all by trying to punish U.S. District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer of New York for making a decision Van Orden, President Donald Trump and the president’s billionaire sidekick, Elon Musk, didn’t like.

Musk, who is leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, wanted access to the Treasury Department’s vast database of tax payments and other records, including the Social Security and bank account numbers of millions of Americans.

Engelmayer on Feb. 8 temporarily blocked Musk’s agency from accessing the information, siding with 19 Democratic attorneys general, including Wisconsin’s Josh Kaul, who cited privacy concerns.

Van Orden ridiculously accused Engelmayer of “high crimes and misdemeanors” for halting Musk’s efforts “on purely political grounds, demonstrating clear bias and prejudice against the president” and his supporters, Van Orden wrote in his resolution.

The congressman lacks evidence to back up his wafer-thin claims. Van Orden, who is not an attorney, accuses Engelmayer of disregarding legal precedent and submitting the judge’s injunction “in the middle of the night, which may have been done with the intent to influence the outcome of cases to favor certain parties.”

That’s it? The judge “may have” done something political?

If that is Van Orden’s new and incredibly low standard for impeachment, any judge in the country could be similarly targeted for removal from the bench.

Impeachment should be reserved for only the most serious violations of public trust, such as taking bribes. The House has impeached just 15 judges over the past 221 years, and the Senate has convicted eight.

Plaintiffs and defendants often disagree with court rulings that don’t go their way, and sometimes judges are wrong. That’s why our judiciary allows decisions to be appealed. The courts often have to sort out the gray areas of the law because the law isn’t written clearly for every situation where it might apply.

When Republicans line up on one side of a legal argument, with Democrats stand firmly on the other, judges face the difficult task of ruling with impartiality and interpreting the law as written, knowing the losing side will probably cry foul.

Criticizing a judge’s decision is fine. But demanding a judge be fired for a perceived partisan slight is absurd. Van Orden’s disrespect for the independence of the judicial branch is disappointing but not surprising in the MAGA era, when hyperbole and bluster often trump reason and civility.

We recently credited Van Orden for defending police officers beaten by protesters at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Van Orden was one of the few Republicans in Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to speak against Trump’s pardons of the most violent offenders that day.

Maybe Van Orden wants to make up for “backing the blue” when Trump didn’t. So Van Orden is going to bat for Trump now. Van Orden appeared to be egged on by Musk, whose bid to scour the federal treasury for savings was stalled.

“A corrupt judge protecting corruption,” Musk posted on X earlier this month after Engelmayer’s order. “He needs to be impeached NOW!”

No, he doesn’t.

Whether or not the judge was right to pause Musk and DOGE’s inspection isn’t the point here. The courts can sort that out, based on the law.

What’s most important is that judges be respected for trying to apply the law in a fair way and not bending to the will of the public or the politicians of either party.

Van Orden’s grandstanding in Washington for Trump and Musk, the richest man in the world, might win him political donations in his difficult reelection bid next year. But it also will erode the integrity of our judiciary and threaten the rule of law.

Voters in western Wisconsin should remember Van Orden’s rash impeachment ploy the next time he seeks their votes.