Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took a decidedly insurrectionist tone when on Sunday she reiterated her position that the Biden administration ought to “disregard” a federal court’s injunction on a widely used abortion pill.
In addition, she also defended her call for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Fox News reported.
In a string of tweets, Ocasio-Cortez voiced her opinion that the court’s decision amounted to “judicial overreach” since it constrains the executive branch’s ability to provide access to the abortion pill, mifepristone. She further stated that judges who “repeatedly break the law” should be impeached, although she didn’t mention Thomas by name, the outlet reported.
“If we do not impeach when lifetime appointees repeatedly break the law in stunning shows of corruption, if we do not reign in [the] systematic abuse of judicial overreach, and if all we rely on is for those abusing power to police themselves, we have no one else to blame,” AOC said on Twitter. “It must stop.”
If we do not impeach when lifetime appointees repeatedly break the law in stunning shows of corruption, if we do not reign in systematic abuse of judicial overreach, and if all we rely on is for those abusing power to police themselves, we have no one else to blame. It must stop.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 9, 2023
According to her, the various branches of government have distinct roles, and since President Joe Biden holds executive authority, he has the power to decide how to enforce the court’s ruling – or even choose not to enforce it at all.
Ocasio-Cortez drew parallels between the current scenario and the Trump administration’s alleged inaction on reinstating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, despite a court’s order to do so. “GOP are losing their mind over this, but there’s precedent – including their own. Courts ordered Trump to fully restore DACA. They ignored it w/ Republican support,” she wrote on Twitter.
GOP are losing their mind over this, but there’s precedent – including their own.
Courts ordered Trump to fully restore DACA. They ignored it w/ Republican support.
GOP operate in complete contempt for the law until they’re in a position to shred Constitutional & human rights. https://t.co/kfxsdF5eKG
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 9, 2023
It should be noted that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in June 2020, thanks to Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the high court’s liberals, that the then-Trump administration could not dismantle the program, and it remains in place to this day.
In another tweet, she noted further: “It’s called agency non-acquiescence. The courts are now going rogue with rulings that no longer even pretend to respect precedent, jurisprudence, or limits to overreach. They are long overdue for a check & balance. Not doing so paves a dangerous road of worsening abuse of power.”
Also, it’s the Biden administration that is no longer fully implementing the DACA program, subsequent to a July 2021 federal court ruling in Texas which deemed the program illegal, per the DHS’s own website.
She doubled down on the insurrectionist language on Sunday during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, claiming that there was an “extraordinary amount of precedent for” ignoring federal courts.
“It has happened before, the idea of consistency and governance until there is a higher court ruling,” she told Bash, adding that it’s “not an unprecedented thing to happen.”
On Friday, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, instructed the Food and Drug Administration to cease approving mifepristone, while a lawsuit questioning its safety and approval progresses through the courts.
“The ruling and subsequent suspension will take effect in seven days if a higher court, such as the U.S. Supreme Court, does not issue a stay,” Fox News reported.
In her interview with Bash, the New York congresswoman stated that she did not believe that Judge Kacsmaryk, or any court for that matter, holds the power to dictate the actions of the FDA.
“I think one of the things that we need to examine is the grounds of that ruling. But I do not believe that the courts have the authority over the FDA that they just asserted, and I do believe that it creates a crisis,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
In addition, Ocasio-Cortez is advocating for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, alleging that he has “repeatedly breaking the law” following an inquiry that uncovered his long-standing friendship with Harlan Crow, a billionaire contributor and real estate magnate.
ProPublica recently discovered that Thomas had undertaken several trips and received extravagant gifts from Crow without disclosing them. Thomas later acknowledged that he had received “personal hospitality” from Crow but maintained that it was “not reportable” under current guidelines dictating the behavior of federal jurists, which is true.
On Ocasio-Cortez declared that Thomas’ position on the Supreme Court was an “emergency” and that he ought to be impeached. During a subsequent interview on Friday, the “Squad” member reaffirmed her stance when asked to respond to Thomas’ statement justifying his conduct.
