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AOC Vows to File Articles of Impeachment After Supreme Court Trump Ruling
"Today's ruling represents an assault on American democracy. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture."
Jul 01, 2024
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday said she will file unspecified articles of impeachment U.S. Supreme Court's right-wing supermajority ruled that former President Donald Trump is entitled to "absolute immunity" for "official acts" performed while he was in office, a decision that prompted dissenting Justice Sonia Sotomayor to declare her "fear for our democracy."
Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on social media that "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," she added. "I intend on filing articles of impeachment upon our return."
The House of Representatives reconvenes next Monday.
The justices ruled 6-3 along ideological lines Monday in Trump v. United States that "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 that "he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts."
Dissenting, Sotomayor asserted: "Never in the history of our republic has a president had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law. Moving forward, however, all former presidents will be cloaked in such immunity."
Far-right Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dismissed calls to recuse themselves from the case over alleged conflicts of interest. In addition to them and Chief Justice John Roberts, the court's three Trump appointees sided with the ex-president in the case.
The decision means it is highly unlikely that Trump will face a trial for his alleged role in fomenting the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection before November's election, in which he is the presumptive Republican nominee. In addition to four felony charges in that case, Trump faces one trial in Fulton County, Georgia for his alleged effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election and another in Florida over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
In May, Trump was convicted on 34 felony charges related to the falsification of business records regarding hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 presidential election. The former president was also impeached twice while in office, although the Senate did not convict him either time.
At least one other House lawmaker—Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.)—said he supports Ocasio-Cortez's move. Other progressive lawmakers expressed alarm over Monday's ruling.
"Presidents are not kings. Trump should absolutely be held criminally liable for inciting a violent mob to overturn the 2020 election," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). "This ruling sets an incredibly dangerous precedent. This extremist court has put our democracy on life support."
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said that "the far-right extremist majority has politicized our highest court, undermined its legitimacy, and has created a dangerous 'absolute' immunity for a president's official acts."
"This is a rogue, untethered, and damaging Supreme Court. MAGA extremist justices also are ignoring the festering corruption in their ranks," he added. "We need justices committed to justice. Stolen seats filled with partisan hacks lead to alarming results. Today's ruling is devastating to our democracy."
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) asked, "If brazenly attempting to overturn a democratic election by claiming the powers of the presidency can be a so-called 'official' act of the president, then where does it end?"
"If a former president who has fomented an insurrection at our Capitol and who now promises to serve as a dictator on day one back in office can avoid accountability in a court of law, then as Justice Sotomayor stated, I too 'fear for our democracy,'" he added.
Some progressive groups and campaigners also called for the impeachment of the six right-wing justices.
"The Supreme Court is a corrupt institution that's more concerned with advancing their ideological agenda than upholding the Constitution," Sunrise Movement said on social media. "Congress must move forward with impeachment."
Erica Payne, founder and director of Patriotic Millionaires, said in a statement that "the Supreme Court's decision effectively legalizes the use of political violence by a president so long as it is an 'official act.'"
"This relieves the presidency—and the sitting president—from the most basic level of accountability while putting our entire constitutional republic in mortal danger," she continued. "Donald Trump incited an insurrection and encouraged his thugs to storm the Capitol. The idea that he should not be held accountable if these actions were 'official' is an egregiously partisan attempt to deny reality."
"This decision is the culmination of a relentlessly executed, multidecade plan to destroy American democracy," Payne contended. "It is the inevitable outcome of rank corruption facilitated by a malignant class of American oligarchs who, over decades, bought and paid for a complicit Supreme Court."
"The frog in the pot is now at a rolling boil," she added. "The president can encourage his thugs to murder members of Congress without fear of legal repercussions. If Democrats do not immediately take bold action, historians will mark today as the moment illiberal authoritarians cemented their rule over the United States of America."
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Rights Groups, Dems Don't Buy Johnson's Claim He Won't Push Federal Abortion Ban
"Mike Johnson's flip-flopping on abortion just proves our movement is winning and that Republicans know they're losing," one advocate said.
May 11, 2024
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he would not attempt to ban abortion on the federal level, a claim that earned instant skepticism from reproductive rights groups.
Johnson's remarks came as part of an interview published by Politico on Friday, as Johnson responded to questions from Politico's Ryan Lizza and Rachael Bade:
Lizza: Some like lightning round questions: Do you anticipate putting forward any legislation on abortion before the election?
No.
Bade: If there is Republican control of both chambers of Congress and the White House next year, do you anticipate passing any sort of nationwide abortion ban?
No, I don't.
President Trump said this is in the states' purview now. After the Dobbs decision, I think that's where it is. Look, I am a lifelong pro-lifer. I’m a product of a teen pregnancy. And so I believe in the sanctity of human life. It's also an important article of faith for me. But I have 434 colleagues here. All of us have our own, philosophical principles that we live by, but you have to have a political consensus.
In response to Johnson's answer, Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju said it reflected a growing awareness among Republicans that restricting abortion is not politically popular. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, every electoral attempt to protect abortion rights on the state level has succeeded.
"Mike Johnson's flip-flopping on abortion just proves our movement is winning and that Republicans know they're losing," Timmaraju said.
However, she pointed out that "'leaving abortion to the states' is not a moderate position, as 21 states are already enforcing horrifying bans with devastating consequences."
"Don't be conned. They can't be trusted with our rights."
Further, she warned against taking Johnson at his word.
"Voters have made it clear to the GOP that we will not tolerate abortion bans," she continued. "Mike Johnson and congressional Republicans have shown time and time again they are willing to do anything in their power to restrict our reproductive freedom, and we can't trust them."
Other abortion rights and pro-democracy campaigners issued similar warnings.
"The technical political science term for this is 'lying,'" Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin wrote on social media in response to the interview.
Activist Olivia Julianna pointed out that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh had calledRoe v. Wade "settled precedent" before helping to overturn it in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
Elected Democrats also expressed suspicion.
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.) pointed out that Johnosn was one of 127 Republicans who had co-sponsored a bill to ban abortion at the federal level.
"If he really isn't for a national abortion ban, he should withdrawal his co-sponsorship first thing when we are back next week," Frost wrote on social media.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) wrote that "these people have been working to ban abortion and deny women the freedom to control our own bodies their entire careers."
"Don't be conned. They can't be trusted with our rights," she said.
In a second post, she asked incredulously, "I'm really supposed to believe Mike Johnson, the lifelong anti-abortion zealot, is suddenly just going to leave it alone?"
Even if the Republicans did steer clear of a federal ban, it would not be enough to ensure abortion rights in the U.S.
"We demand a federal response to the abortion crisis and call on the press to ask the speaker if he will support federal protections," Timmaraju said. "We demand nothing less from our federal government than locking in the federal right to abortion and expanding access."
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'We Held the Line and Won': House Approves Stopgap Spending Bill With No Budget Cuts
Speaker Kevin McCarthy had previously said that bringing a clean spending bill to the floor would count as surrender.
Sep 30, 2023
The House of Representatives voted 335 to 91 to keep the government open Saturday afternoon, as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy put forward a bill to fund the government for 45 days without the steep cuts to services or harder border measures demanded by far-right Republicans.
McCarthy had previously said that bringing a clean spending bill to the floor would count as surrender, Politico pointed out. The outlet's Congress reporter Olivia Beavers noted on social media that McCarthy received more votes from Democrats than from his own party, at 209 and 126 respectively.
"It’s been interesting watching the MAGA Republicans surrender," Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) tweeted. "All their must-have poison policies have been removed from the House bill we just passed. We held the line and won for the American people."
On Friday, 21 House Republicans rejected a spending measure that would have cut the budgets of several agencies by almost 30% and included harsher border control measures, The Associated Press reported.While Democrats rejected the measure for being too extreme, the 21 Republicans argued it didn't go far enough.
That refusal prompted McCarthy to change tactics Saturday, despite the fact that his speakership will likely be challenged by the right.
"If somebody wants to remove me because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try," McCarthy said, as AP reported. "But I think this country is too important."
"Democrats held the line against Republicans' cruel, extreme, and unworkable agenda and the Republican resolve crumbled."
The House bill funds the federal government at 2023 levels through November 17 and includes the additional $16 billion in disaster funding requested by President Joe Biden. It does exclude funding for Ukraine, which was a part of the Senate's temporary spending measure. However, Washington Post White House economics reporter Jeff Stein tweeted that it was a "truly striking L for House conservatives demanding massive domestic spending cuts."
"A few days ago, far-right of GOP was insisting ~10% cuts to domestic programs were insufficient," he said. "Now, looks like they're going to get 0% cuts instead."
In an earlier tweet, Stein pointed out that since the stopgap measure relies on spending levels from Fiscal Year 2023, it avoids cuts to WIC, childcare, scientific research, housing support, and other domestic programs.
Progressive lawmakers counted the vote as a win.
"House Democrats have engineered a huge victory for the American people in averting a Republican shutdown," Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a statement. "This is a moment of relief for thousands of federal employees and working-class federal contract workers who will not miss a paycheck and the millions of Americans who rely on government services that will continue uninterrupted."
"The reason that the government will remain open tonight is simple," she continued. "Democrats held the line against Republicans' cruel, extreme, and unworkable agenda and the Republican resolve crumbled."
"Here’s what went down: We just won a clean 45 day gov extension, stripped GOP’s earlier 30% cuts to Social Security admin etc., staved off last minute anti-immigrant hijinks, and averted shutdown (for now)," Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted. "People will get paychecks and MTG threw a tantrum on the way out. Win-win."
"For months, Speaker McCarthy has been a puppet of the extreme far-right. Democrats held the line on no cuts to the programs that our people depend on and we won," posted Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.). "Big fight ahead on the budget, but this is a win. McCarthy folded and we kept the government open."
To avoid a shutdown, a bill must be ready for Biden to sign by 12:01 am Sunday. The Senate is likely to vote on the House meassure this evening, The New York Times reported.
Even if the Senate passes the measure, Jayapal said there would be more work to do and 45 days to pass a permanent funding resolution.
"Republicans are still trying to gut food, housing, and home-heating assistance for low-income families; take teachers out of classrooms; criminalize abortion; cut social security funding; and create a death panel for the earned benefits seniors rely on," she said.
"Republicans have managed to fulfill the absolute bare minimum of their obligations as the governing majority, but Democrats will need to remain vigilant," she added.
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