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JD Vance’s Explosive Trump Claim Goes Viral, Congressman Fires Back: “If You Follow The Law, You Won’t Have Problems”

by in Daily Edition | February 9, 2025

JD Vance

J.D. Vance (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Ralph Branson) Ralph Branson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In a brief social media post that quickly went viral, Vice President JD Vance made a broad claim for the reach and power of the executive branch and of the Trump administration, essentially asserting that the courts should be powerless to curb orders from the President.

Vance’s claim met strong resistance from his political opponents, who characterized Vance’s assertion as an assault on the Constitution and its intent that a “separation of powers” undergirds the republic as part of a system of checks and balances, limiting the power of any single branch of government.

Vance’s post used an adjective that sits at the crux of the disagreement when he wrote: “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.” The critical adjective at issue is “legitimate” — as legitimacy is something that judges and the courts help determine, weighing the use of power against its constitutionality.

Lawmaker attorneys on the other side of the aisle, including avowed anti-MAGA legislators Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), responded that the Yale-trained lawyer Vance’s viral legal claim was a willful misinterpretation of the Founders’ intent.

Schiff, a Harvard law grad, contended that though he and Vance are both attorneys, people “don’t have to be lawyers to know that ignoring court decisions we don’t like puts us on a dangerous path to lawlessness.”

Goldman, a Stanford law grad, replied: “It’s called the ‘rule of law’ @jdvance. Our constitution created three co-equal branches of government to provide checks and balances on each other (‘separation of powers’). The judiciary makes sure that the executive follows the law. If you do, then you won’t have problems.”

Former Republican presidential candidate and Congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL) also joined the objectors on constitutional grounds, and wrote: “Separation of powers. Checks and balances. A nation of laws. The President of this country is not a king.”

Vance’s post is likely in response to the multitude of court challenges to Trump’s moves — enough of them to warrant New York Times headlines like: “Why Federal Courts May Be the Last Bulwark Against Trump.”

With majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate, Republicans in Congress — the legislative branch — have offered little resistance to Trump’s bold assertions of executive branch power, as Trump has sought to vastly reshape the federal government through a plethora of executive orders.

Legal challenges contend that Trump has overstepped his authority and that, for example, his orders unilaterally undercutting congressionally mandated appropriations, as in the shuttering of USAID, aren’t within the executive branch’s power.

The practical result of Trump’s assertive start has been a transfer of real power in Washington from elected lawmakers to special operations like Elon Musk‘s DOGE office, which is accountable only to the President. This transfer of power is being accomplished with the consent of many of the same lawmakers whose power is eroded by the change.

Vance also sees support for his assertion in the comments, including from top Trump advisor and current White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller arguing, below, with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Note: It isn’t just Democratic legislators who suggest the VP’s post goes too far. In response to Vance, a number of legally conversant commenters — including one whose profile reads “Trump-Vance-2024” — mentioned the historic Marbury v. Madison SCOTUS case, which “holds the rights of the courts to determine the constitutionality of the actions of the other two branches of government.”