California representative Katie Porter said Congress should "police" the Supreme Court.
During a Monday appearance on The View, the panel of co-hosts discussed last June's overturning of Roe v. Wade via the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which granted individual states the power to determine the legality of abortion.
"They said they weren't going to do a nationwide abortion ban," Porter said of the Dobbs decision, "but that is exactly what they are doing."
The California representative noted states implementing restrictions on travel and mail order for abortion and abortion-related measures was an effort to "override" state's rights.
"This is not about safety, this is not about science ... this is about misogyny," Porter added. "This is about controlling women's healthcare decisions and not trusting people ... to decide for themselves."
Co-host Ana Navarro brought up recent allegations against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, suggesting the justice accepted "lavish trips" from a wealthy conservative donor. The donor further reportedly purchased properties from Justice Thomas who failed to report the donations, according to the claim.
Navarro mentioned calls for Thomas' impeachment from the Judicial Branch asking Porter on "how" the Supreme Court could be policed.
Porter responded that Congress "absolutely can and should" police the Judicial Branch of the federal government.
"Residual power for our government is Congress, not in the Executive Branch, not with the President, and not with the Supreme Court," the California representative said. "That's because we're the closest to the people."
"People elect and un-elect us every two years."
"Congress can pass a judicial code of ethics for the Supreme Court," Porter continued, adding that Congress needed to learn from their own mistakes with codes of ethics. "We've seen this exact same play, which is, 'Oops, I'll tell you about it later.'"
Porter noted lawmakers "get off the hook" for not adhering to codes of ethics.
"It erodes trust in government, it makes people think Congress is corrupt, the court is corrupt, that they can't trust their federal officials," she continued. "I don't care what your political views are, a lack of trust in government is a terrible thing to witness in a democracy, and we all need to be part of pushing for more accountability."
In January, the California representative announced her 2024 bid for the United States Senate.
Porter, along with fellow California representative Adam Schiff, are seeking to fill Senator Dianne Feinstein's seat in the upcoming election. Feinstein, who previously served as Mayor of San Francisco, has served as a Senator for California since 1992.
Fellow California Senator Alex Padilla assumed Vice President Kamala Harris’ Senate seat following the 2020 Presidential Election. Padilla finished the two years left in Harris’ term and secured a full Senate term in the 2022 Midterm election.
