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Kindergarten Konstitutional Law Comes To The Southern District Of New York
Manhattan Contrarian ^ | 8 Feb, 2025 | Francis Menton

Posted on 02/10/2025 5:07:31 AM PST by MtnClimber

In yesterday’s post, reviewing a Washington Post op-ed by Ruth Marcus that called efforts by the duly-elected President to direct the bureaucracy to implement his policies a “power grab” and an “onslaught against the government itself,” I described the piece as reflecting “kindergarten-level constitutional analysis.” After all, my 6 year old first-grader grandson is fully capable of reading the first sentence of Article II of the Constitution (“The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America”) and figuring out that this guy is given the sole and full power to direct the executive branch of the federal government. Nothing about the elected President exercising such powers is or can be a “power grab.” If you are somehow unable to grasp that simple proposition, you therefore must be at sub-first grade level of comprehension, and thus kindergarten level, at the highest.

Well, today Kindergarten Konstitutional Law came to the Southern District of New York. In response to a motion made by some 19 states (all Democrat-led), a Southern District Judge named Paul Engelmayer issued a Temporary Restraining Order preventing President Trump and Treasury Secretary Bessent from “granting access” to Treasury Department payment systems to anyone other than “civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties.” Here is a copy of Judge Engelmayer’s Order. Looking at the language of the Order that I just quoted, it seems to mean quite clearly that even President Trump and Secretary Bessent themselves are enjoined from looking at the line-by-line details of who is getting paid by the Treasury. Why? Because the information is “sensitive.” I’m not making this up.

So who is this Engelmayer guy? You will not be surprised to learn that he is someone with the highest of the high credentials of the super-elite who claim the prerogative to run the federal government outside of any democratic control. Here is a Wikipedia biography of Engelmayer. (The bio contains a prominent caveat that “a major contributor” to the bioappears to have a close connection” to the subject. I take that to mean that Engelmayer probably wrote the thing himself, so you can take it for what it’s worth.). The bio says that Engelmayer is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College, and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. He clerked on the D.C. Circuit, and then for Thurgood Marshall at the Supreme Court. He served as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, and did a term with the Solicitor General’s office in Washington during the Clinton administration. And at some point he slid seamlessly into the job of Managing Partner of the New York office of Wilmer Hale. He was named to the Southern District bench by President Obama in 2011.

Now there is a guy who is indisputably really, really smart. For a few of my prior pieces on rule by people who are really, really smart, try here, here and here.

Engelmayer is so smart that he has figured out that the elected President and his designates cannot be allowed get access to the details of where the government’s money is going, because that information is too “sensitive.” Here is the key line of reasoning (if you want to call it that) from Engelmayer’s Order:

The Court’s firm assessment is that . . . the States . . . will face irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief . . . both because of the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking.

But of course Engelmayer’s Order specifically exempts from its restraints “civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties.” Those people somehow have a higher standing to know whom the government is paying than the elected President and his designees? By what constitutional provision? Engelmayer fails to mention that.

A bit farther down in Article II of the Constitution is the line that describes the President’s main job: “[H]e shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Now, how exactly is the President supposed to do that if the courts think they can prevent him from getting access to the details of where the government’s money is being spent?

At her blog today, ex-law professor Ann Althouse was quickly on top of this issue:

Is the federal judge taking the position that in the name of enforcing the Take Care Clause, it is the role of the judiciary to oversee whatever the President does with the executive power that the Constitution vests in him? Is there some extra-legal notion that the federal judge should seize the power to put on the brakes when a President with questionable judgment is moving too fast?

Excellent questions. But sorry, Ann, Judge Engelmayer is way, way too “smart” to ask himself such insightful questions. He knows that his main duty here is to his team to prevent the duly elected President from changing the preferred policies of the permanent bureaucracy. The role of his super-brainpower is to come up with some devious logic that can make that result seem somehow plausible under the Constitution.

This one is really too crazy to last long. The only issue is how much left-wing judges like Engelmayer will be able to slow Trump down from fulfilling his promises to the electorate.

UPDATE: A couple of comments from Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit. (1) “It’s a previously unknown clause in Article II: The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States, unless he threatens the establishment’s feedlot.” (2) “[Engelmayer] is angling for Attorney General in the next Democratic administration.”

Really, ridicule is the only appropriate response to this kind of thing.

UPDATE, February 10:

Here is a picture of Judge Engelmayer from Wikipedia.



TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: districtofcolumbia; francismenton; jeffbezos; leftism; manhattancontrarian; paulengelmayer; ruthmarcus; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost
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1 posted on 02/10/2025 5:07:31 AM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

Engelmayer sure seems to think highly of himself. But, it won’t help him when the Federal Marshalls SWAT raid him.


2 posted on 02/10/2025 5:07:44 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Jeffrey Epstein


3 posted on 02/10/2025 5:09:28 AM PST by linMcHlp
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To: MtnClimber
Who. Run. Bartertown? Say. Say loud. Master Blaster run Bartertown in Mad  Max Beyond Thunderdome 💪 1985 . . . #80s #80smovies #madmax #retro  #80svintage #ilovethe80s #80smemes
4 posted on 02/10/2025 5:20:40 AM PST by desertsolitaire ( Lee Harvey Oswald and the Bands final performance)
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To: MtnClimber

There’s not a doubt in my mind that crazed lefties had already picked out the Rat judges they would take these injunctions and other cases to even before Trump took the oath of office. This will be lawfare on steroids. I hope Trump similarly prepared for this and has his lawyers ready to spin on a dime.


5 posted on 02/10/2025 5:22:47 AM PST by SharpRightTurn (“Giving money & power to government is like giving whiskey & car keys to teenage boys” P.J. O’Rourke)
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To: MtnClimber

6 posted on 02/10/2025 5:32:26 AM PST by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: SharpRightTurn

The House could quell this interference quickly by invoking articles of impeachment against this judge once his ruling is overturned. There MUST be a personal cost for jurists who act politically. Impeaching several of these meddlesome nitwits would dirty up their resumes enough to give others a warning about the consequences of entering the political fray.


7 posted on 02/10/2025 6:03:11 AM PST by Sgt_Schultze (When your business model depends on slave labor, you're always going to need more slaves.)
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To: Sgt_Schultze

Ain’t gonna happen. Doesn’t impeachment require an affirmative 2/3 vote of the Senate?


8 posted on 02/10/2025 6:44:14 AM PST by sauropod (Make sure Satan has to climb over a lot of Scripture to get to you. John MacArthur Ne supra crepidam)
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To: sauropod

Nope. Impeachment is an indictment by simple majority only. Removal involves the Senate. The dirty resume is exactly why democrats impeached Trump twice. They knew he wouldn’t be removed, but they wanted the moniker and the talking points.


9 posted on 02/10/2025 7:01:14 AM PST by Sgt_Schultze (When your business model depends on slave labor, you're always going to need more slaves.)
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To: sauropod

I’m thinking that they need the impeachment in the House stain on their record.

And for the record, that Engelmayer stooge looks like the original pencil-necked geek.


10 posted on 02/10/2025 7:10:40 AM PST by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: MtnClimber
A Geeky looking east coast ivy league elite.

You should NEVER (Should not) judge people SOLELY on looks but everyone needs to acknowledge that along with his Brooks Brothers suits he has JarJar Binks' eyes.


Regarding his high-handed ExParte Democrat Sponsored Barratry that challenges the constitutional executive authority of the President:

From: Catturd repost Elon Musk reply to D Goldman (This is a link to Telegram account of Catturd)

on Twitter @danielsgoldman.4h wrote

"It wasn't just a freeze on @elonmusk and @DOGE accessing American's personal data

He was ordered to DESTROY any data they already took

Elon must confirm he has followed the court order.

Attorney General Matt Platkin 6h

To be clear; the Judge ordered Elon and the
DOGE Bros to delete any data they illegally
acquired since trump took office.

We are going to make sure they comply....

Elon Musk x@elonmusk 7m

We don't have any personal data of Americans
you corrupt moron

Concision is a virtue. Elon is succinct with the "corrupt moron."

(Elon = Trump's war hammer. Are we watching the Gotterdammerung of the Democrat party? lets hope! )

11 posted on 02/10/2025 7:12:38 AM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission
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To: sauropod
"Ain’t gonna happen."

To convict, but not to initiate the trial and put him through the hell of having to hire lawyers to defend himself and answer questions in front of congress.

12 posted on 02/10/2025 7:15:41 AM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission
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To: MtnClimber

Bttt.

5.56mm


13 posted on 02/10/2025 7:17:58 AM PST by M Kehoe (Thank you Jesus. )
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To: MtnClimber

Great title.

Great article.


14 posted on 02/10/2025 7:38:15 AM PST by Arcadian Empire (The Baric-Daszak-Fauci spike protein, by itself, is deadly.)
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To: MtnClimber

It’s way past time that the Executive branch exercised its oversite responsibilities and investigate some of the obvious bad actors in the Judicial and Legislative branches.

Those two branches have been oversighting the Executive branch for decades.


15 posted on 02/10/2025 7:39:03 AM PST by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again," )
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission
Elon Musk: "We don't have any personal data of Americans, you corrupt moron."

(https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1888380508628722114)

Elon Musk is so damn cool.

16 posted on 02/10/2025 7:43:26 AM PST by Arcadian Empire (The Baric-Daszak-Fauci spike protein, by itself, is deadly.)
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To: Sgt_Schultze

The so called judge will also likely have to have representation for the impeachment trial and that will cost him out of pocket. The left has used lawfare to make process punishment so let’s turn the tables.


17 posted on 02/10/2025 8:05:12 AM PST by gunnut
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To: MtnClimber
a Southern District Judge named Paul Engelmayer

Needs to be prosecuted for disobeying the law.

18 posted on 02/10/2025 8:08:30 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: gunnut

Yup. It’ll be totally worth it to inflict those costs on them for their meddling. In fact Trump should insist Cheney, Schiff, Kinzinger, and all the other thugs be indicted as well, just so they can expend precious retirement money and to exercise their pardon, and force their compliance in describing the extent of their treachery.


19 posted on 02/10/2025 8:28:39 AM PST by Sgt_Schultze (When your business model depends on slave labor, you're always going to need more slaves.)
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To: Sgt_Schultze

Got it. However, the Speaker has only a two or three vote majority (if everyone votes the same way).


20 posted on 02/10/2025 10:26:39 AM PST by sauropod (Make sure Satan has to climb over a lot of Scripture to get to you. John MacArthur Ne supra crepidam)
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