Vice President JD Vance is getting slammed after suggesting that courts shouldn’t have the power to stop Trump from breaking the Constitution. His comments didn’t sit well with many, including Adam Schiff and Joe Scarborough, who both tore into Vance’s argument.
The whole thing started after a federal judge temporarily blocked Elon Musk’s team from accessing government payment systems. The judge’s ruling came after 19 states sued Trump and the Treasury Department. Musk went off, calling the judge “corrupt” and demanding an impeachment.
Vance then decided to weigh in on Sunday, making an odd claim about the president’s powers. “If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal,” Vance said. “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.”
California Senator Adam Schiff responded on Twitter, saying, “JD, we both went to law school. But we don’t have to be lawyers to know that ignoring court decisions we don’t like puts us on a dangerous path to lawlessness.” Schiff added, “We just have to swear an oath to the Constitution. And mean it.”
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough wasn’t having it either. He called Vance’s argument “circular” and “made no sense.” He explained that the president’s power isn’t decided by the president or the vice president—it’s the Supreme Court that defines what the president can and can’t do. “That’s the way it’s been since John Marshall was the first Supreme Court justice. This is trolling,” Scarborough said.
“This is all planned,” Scarborough said, implying Republicans are pushing the boundaries of the law intentionally.
Scarborough pointed out that courts have been blocking presidential actions for a long time. “This is how things are,” he said. “So when you say a court cannot stop a president from doing what’s in its legitimate power, yes, that’s true. But it’s the court that determines the contours of that power.”
Elizabeth Goitein from the Brennan Center for Justice echoed those concerns, warning that Vance’s tweet could signal that Trump’s team plans to ignore court orders. She pointed out that the question of presidential powers was settled long ago—thanks to the landmark 1803 Marbury v. Madison decision. “If the Trump team ignores the courts, any remaining doubt will be gone: they are trying to reverse the revolution that overthrew King George and gave birth to democracy.”
Watch the entire “Morning Joe” segment below, from MSNBC.
