Democratic Party candidate Graham Platner has proposed a plan to impeach two current Supreme Court justices. Platner, who is running for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Maine, told NBC that there are valid reasons to remove Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. Alito and Thomas have come under considerable ethical scrutiny during Trump’s second term. Alito was part of the majority in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, a decision that created a lot of controversy and led to calls for his withdrawal from abortion-related cases.
Thomas has also been involved in controversy.
Recently, there have been calls for his removal from the Supreme Court after a speech in which he criticized progressive politics. During an appearance at the University of Texas Austin Law School, Thomas said, “Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government.”
Platner has since called for the impeachment of both Alito and Thomas.
He believes there is a “compelling case” against both justices. “The relationship between Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow is not hard to see as clearly corrupt, and Justice Thomas doesn’t even recuse himself from cases that impact Crow’s businesses,” he said.
Platner also said he is “definitely open to doing more, including adding seats on the court.”
He added that if the Democratic Party gains a majority in the Senate, he plans to investigate Donald Trump’s administration.
“I want to shut the White House down,” Platner said.
“I want us to, for the next two years, be dragging every single person in the White House, every single person in all these agencies that have been conducting themselves in illegal and unconstitutional ways. They need to be dragged by subpoena in front of Senate committees over and over and over again.”
A Supreme Court justice can be impeached through a constitutional process outlined in Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
The House of Representatives must vote to impeach the justice, requiring a simple majority, by charging them with “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Once the House impeaches the justice, the Senate holds a trial where the justice can defend themselves.
A two-thirds majority vote in the Senate is needed to convict and remove the justice from office.
No Supreme Court justice has ever been successfully impeached and removed through this process, although several have faced impeachment attempts throughout American history for various alleged misconduct and ethical violations.
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