In a move that has sparked controversy, Democratic U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has initiated impeachment proceedings against U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
This development was confirmed by her office on Wednesday.
According to The New York Post, this attempt is unlikely to gain traction in the House of Representatives, which is currently under Republican control. The impeachment process necessitates a vote in the House, followed by a conviction in the Senate, to successfully remove an official from their position.
The Democratic party has long expressed discontent with the Supreme Court, which holds a 6-3 conservative majority. The court has been criticized for its rulings that have furthered causes favored by conservatives, such as curtailing abortion rights, expanding gun rights, dismissing race-conscious college admissions, and ruling that former presidents possess extensive immunity from prosecution for official acts, a decision that favored Donald Trump.
Ocasio-Cortez voiced her concerns in a statement, saying, "Thomas and Alitos pattern of refusal to recuse from consequential matters before the court in which they hold widely documented financial and personal entanglements constitutes a grave threat to American rule of law."
Accusations of ethical misconduct have been leveled against Thomas and Alito, two of the court's staunchest conservative justices, by some congressional Democrats. Thomas has been under scrutiny following reports of undisclosed travel and accommodation expenses paid by a wealthy patron, and his wife's involvement in efforts to overturn Trump's 2020 election defeat. In response, Thomas stated that he considered the travel he accepted as personal hospitality, exempt from disclosure requirements.
Alito, too, has faced backlash following the discovery of flags linked to Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election results displayed outside his residences in Virginia and New Jersey. Alito clarified that it was his wife, not him, who had flown the flags. These developments underscore the ongoing tension between the Democratic party and the conservative justices, a situation that is likely to persist in the foreseeable future.
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