Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said this week that Democrats, who take control of Congress in January, should keep “all options on the table,” including impeaching Supreme Court justices.
In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Ocasio-Cortez was asked how far Democrats might go, including whether they would pursue impeachment of President Trump. “I think we should leave all options on the table, absolutely,” she said. “I mean, of course, this Supreme Court as well, has also kind of legalized a lot of his criminality. And they’re pointing at impeachment.” She added, “We’ll see. We’ll approach it, but I think all options are on the table.”
Ocasio-Cortez did not name specific justices in the interview or describe what conduct she believes would warrant impeachment. In July 2024, she introduced articles of impeachment against Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, which the Republican-controlled House did not take up.
Legal scholar Jonathan Turley wrote that Ocasio-Cortez “is suggesting a type of collective guilt for ‘high crimes and misdemeanors,’” arguing Democrats have pushed for the impeachment of conservative justices for years “on specious grounds.” He said, “Democrats appear to be adopting an ‘impeach-them-all-and-let-God-sort-them-out’ approach to the upcoming session of Congress.”
Incoming House Minority Leader Jim Jordan (R-OH) told Sean Hannity he expects Democrats to pursue further impeachments beyond the Supreme Court. “There’ll be a third impeachment. They can’t help themselves,” Jordan said. “They’re going to go after everyone in the Cabinet. We’ve already seen that with Secretary of War Hegseth. They’re going to go after people in the private sector, which I think is ridiculous.”
The Senate Math
While the House can impeach a justice with a simple majority — which Democrats will hold come January — removing a justice from the bench requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate, or 67 votes if all 100 senators are present. According to NBC News, Democrats currently hold 55 Senate seats to Republicans’ 44, with Alaska’s race still uncalled. That means Democrats would need roughly 11 or 12 Republican votes to convict and remove a justice, depending on how Alaska’s seat is ultimately decided.
Turley noted that with Democrats lacking the votes to override a presidential veto on legislation, impeachment and investigation may become their primary avenues for confrontation. “In the meantime, the Democratic Party is sounding like a party of berserkers,” he wrote. “There is little recognition of the dangerous, destabilizing impact of such actions on our constitutional system.”
Only one Supreme Court justice has ever been impeached in American history. The House impeached Justice Samuel Chase in 1804; the Senate acquitted him the following year.
