AOC calls for Congress to immediately ‘rein in’ the Supreme Court

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) demanded that Congress step in to “rein in” the Supreme Court, warning that the fate of democracy is at stake.

Congressional Democrats have made a concerted effort to question the Supreme Court’s legitimacy in recent months, with efforts accelerating as a case approaches that would decide whether former President Donald Trump should be granted presidential immunity. Ocasio-Cortez has been one of the most vocal lawmakers calling for Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas to recuse themselves, joining with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MA) in urging Chief Justice John Roberts to force their recusals.

She stepped up her calls on Thursday, warning of a “corruption crisis.”

“There is a corruption crisis on the Supreme Court,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. “And that court has shown time and time again that it is not capable of policing itself. Congress, as a co-equal branch, must rein them in. Each day we do not, our democracy is at greater risk than the last. The time is now.”

Raskin emerged as one of the first congressmen to demand bodies outside the Supreme Court take action, suggesting Congress or the Department of Justice force Thomas’s and Alito’s recusals.

Thomas has been heavily scrutinized by Democrats for his accepting of millions’ worth of “gifts,” which the Left has argued taints his impartiality. Thomas and his wife, Ginni, said what have been called “gifts” are merely “personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court” and thus did not have to be reported in his financial disclosures.

Alito, meanwhile, has been scrutinized for his residences flying an upside-down American flag and a Revolutionary War-era “Appeal to Heaven” flag, both interpreted by some liberals as expressing sympathy for far-right groups.

Republicans have argued that Democrats’ critiques of Thomas and Alito are part of a smear campaign to delegitimize the court in an effort to win back control in the judiciary.

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Ocasio-Cortez and Raskin released a joint letter earlier on Thursday, expressing their issues with the self-policing of the Supreme Court.

“We write with alarm about the deepening ethics crisis at the Supreme Court of the United States, which is turning into a full-blown legitimacy crisis,” Raskin and Ocasio-Cortez wrote in the letter. “You have repeatedly asked Congress and the American people to trust Justices of the Supreme Court to police their own conduct, assuring us that ‘[e]very Justice seeks to follow high ethical standards … and is committed to the common interest in preserving the Court’s vital role as an impartial tribunal governed by the rule of law.’”