Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), called Sunday’s interview for three far-right Supreme Court justices being impeached on the basis of their votes to overturn Roe v. WadeThey broke promises they made under penalty of perjury during their confirmation hearings.
Ocasio-Cortez raising on NBC’s Meet the PressSenators Susan Collins (R.-Maine), and Sen. Joe Manchin, (D.West Virginia) have suggestedJustices Brett Kavanugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett lied during their confirmation hearings and in meetings with senators about whether or they would consider overturning Supreme Court decisions while serving as justices. Justice Amy Coney Barrett also pledgedDuring her confirmation, she stated that she would uphold precedents.
“If we allow Supreme Court nominees to lie under oath and secure lifetime appointments to the highest court of the land…. there must be consequences for such a deeply destabilizing action and hostile takeover of our democratic institutions,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “What makes it particularly dangerous is that it sends a blaring signal to all future nominees that they can now lie to duly elected members of the United States Senate in order to secure Supreme Court confirmations.”
She continued to say that she believes that the justices should be impeached and that lying under oath is an “impeachable offense.”
Ocasio-Cortez also suggested that Justice Clarence Thomas be impeached over recent scandals involving his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas. “I believe that violating federal law in not disclosing income from political organizationsAs Clarence Thomas did many years ago, it is also possible to be impeachable. I believe that Do not withdraw from cases that one clearly has family members involved in, with very deep violations of conflict of interest, are also impeachable offenses.”
Only 15 federal magistrates have ever been impeachedNone of the Supreme Court justices in American history were impeached. Impeachment of judges works in the same way as impeachment for presidents. The House would vote to approve articles of impeachment, while the Senate would vote to convict. OcasioCortez stated that if lawmakers like Collins and Manchin fail to hold the justices responsible, federal abortion rights will be lost. will also be a stain on their legacies.
But it would likely be impossible to get any of the far right Supreme Court justices removed without a Democratic supermajority in the Senate — and even then, with conservatives Like ManchinIt would be a tough fight in the chamber.
OcasioCortez said that the current circumstances call for a similar extreme response by Democrats. “What we need to do is show the American people that when they give the Democratic Party power and when they actually do vote for us, that we will be using and we are willing to use the power that they do give us in order to merit increased expansions in our majority.”
She stated that President Joe Biden could take a variety of actions without congressional approval. These include opening reproductive care clinics on federal land in states that have prohibited abortion, or directing agencies to expand abortion pill access.
The lawmaker pulled no punches over the weekend in her criticisms of mainstream Democrats’ calls to vote in response to the Roe overturn. The Democratic Party needs to step up in this moment and realize that it’s bigger than just abortion rights, she said.
“This is not just a crisis of Roe. This is a crisis in our democracy. The Supreme Court has dramatically overreached its authority,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “This is a crisis of legitimacy.”
