In a jointly signed letter, Democratic representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ted Lieu have formally asked the Senate to decide whether Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath during their confirmation hearings in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
The letter begins, “We are writing because the legitimacy of the Supreme Court of the United States is at stake.”
Both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, each nominated by President Donald Trump, were asked during their hearings whether they would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, should the matter come before the Court. While neither explicitly said they would not vote to overturn Roe, both declared that they saw the 1972 ruling as settled legal precedent, and that the Court should respect it as such. Many, including senators Joe Manchin and Susan Collins, believed this to mean they would not vote to overturn Roe.
Ocasio-Cortez and Lieu addressed Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer in their letter, writing that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh “misled the American people during their confirmation hearings about their views on Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood” and lied to senators. Ocasio-Cortez has on multiple occasions stated that she believes lying under oath is an impeachable offense.
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“We respect the right of individual Justices to have their own views on various constitutional issues,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ted Lieu added. “But we cannot have a system where Justices lie about their views in order to get confirmed. That makes a mockery of the confirmation power, and of the separation of powers.
“We respectfully request the Senate issue a finding—through a resolution or another kind of public statement—on whether these Justices lied under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee,” they wrote.
Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are not the only Supreme Court justices to come under fire in recent weeks following the fall of Roe v. Wade. Renewed calls to impeach Justice Clarence Thomas have also bubbled to the surface, and a petition calling for his resignation or impeachment now has almost 1.2 million signatures.
