Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is threatening U.S. Supreme Court justices with impeachment following the Court’s ruling on Donald Trump’s presidential immunity.
In a landmark 6-3 decision released Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that the former president has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts carried out while in office.
The Court emphasized that this immunity does not extend to unofficial or private actions.
In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, "Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts."
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote the dissenting opinion, was joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
In a Monday afternoon X post, Ocasio-Cortez said she would make efforts to impeach members of the Court.
“The Supreme Court has become consumed by a corruption crisis beyond its control,” she said. “Today’s ruling represents an assault on American democracy. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture.”
“I intend on filing articles of impeachment upon our return,” she concluded, without confirming which justices she would attempt to remove. The Supreme Court has become consumed by a corruption crisis beyond its control.
Today’s ruling represents an assault on American democracy. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture.
I intend on filing articles of impeachment upon our return.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2024
In a separate post, the New York representative shared a post from New York Times writer Lulu Garcia-Navarro, who suggested “the Supreme Court is paving the way for a second [Trump] term with the presidency having almost limitless powers.”
Though some users ridiculed the lawmaker for her comment – including X owner Elon Musk, who posted an AI chat bot-generated story mocking her – others voiced their support.
Fellow Squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) shared the post and said, “It’s time, let’s get it done.”
Ezra Levin, co-founder of the grassroots progressive nonprofit Indivisible, praised Ocasio-Cortez.
“If you believe this is a crisis, act like it’s a crisis,” he wrote. “AOC is acting like it’s a crisis.”
“This is exactly the kind of response warranted by today’s ruling,” another user wrote. “The Supreme Court has become a haven for right-wing partisanship. Congress should act swiftly to fix this.”
“Before everyone starts whining about how an impeachment of Supreme Court justices won't pass a Republican-controlled House, that isn't what this is about,” wrote entrepreneur and columnist for New York Daily News Brandon Friedman. “It's about the spectacle. It's about the headlines. It's about communicating to voters a grave threat to the Republic.”
The advocacy group MoveOn expressed its support and shared a petition with over 1.3 million signatures to have Justice Clarence Thomas impeached.
Business Insider reported that an impeachment bid would likely be stalled because “Republicans control the House, and even Democratic leadership hasn't fully come around to the notion that justices should face impeachment.”
The outlet added: “But the act of filing impeachment articles represents a significant escalation in Democrats' efforts to exercise greater oversight over the high court, which has faced numerous ethics scandals in recent years while issuing a spate of conservative opinions that have upended decades of precedent, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.”
Only one Supreme Court justice has been impeached in U.S. history.
In 1804, Samuel Chase, described as “a staunch Federalist with a volcanic personality” on the Senate’s website, was convicted by the House of Representatives for “refusing to dismiss biased jurors and of excluding or limited defense witnesses in two politically sensitive cases.”
Chase was acquitted by the Senate the following year and continued to serve on the Supreme Court until his death in 1811.
Adrian Norman contributed to this report
