(The Hill) – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y) on Sunday said conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices who “misled” Americans during their confirmation hearings about whether or not they supported overturning Roe v. Wade should be impeached and face “consequences” for lying under oath.
Ocasio-Cortez told NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd the Supreme Court “dramatically overreached its authority” and created a “crisis of legitimacy” that President Biden should address.
“If we allow Supreme Court nominees to lie under oath and secure lifetime appointments to the highest court of the land and then issue — without basis, if you read these opinions — rulings that deeply undermine the human civil rights of the majority of Americans, we must see that through,” the lawmaker said.
“There must be consequences for such a deeply destabilizing action and the hostile takeover of our democratic institutions,” she added.
The Supreme Court on Friday overturned the 1973 precedent Roe v. Wade, giving states the ability to decide abortion laws for the first time in roughly 50 years.
Conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — who each voted in the majority to overturn Roe — were criticized for dodging the question of overturning the precedent during their respective confirmation hearings or saying they would not support overturning the case.
Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday said lying under oath is an impeachable offense and there should be consequences to deter it from happening again.
“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 a Supreme Court confirmation,” she said.