2018 Roberts Court — The Roberts Court, November 30, 2018. Seated, from left to right: Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Samuel A. Alito. Standing, from left to right: Justices Neil M. Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Brett M. Kavanaugh. Photograph by Fred Schilling, Supreme Court Curator's Office.

America

Nancy Pelosi Threatens Impeachment Over SCOTUS Selection

Sep 23, 2020

UNITED STATES—On Sunday, September, 21, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi threatened the impeachment of President Donald Trump over his decision to fill the seat of recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In an interview Sunday with ABC’s “This Week,” George Stephanopoulos questioned Pelosi regarding the Trump administration going through with the nomination of a new Supreme Court Justice if Biden wins the upcoming Presidential election in the fall.

“Well, we have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I am not about to discuss right now, but the fact is, we have a big challenge in our country,” Pelosi stated.

Stephanopoulus asked Pelosi if she was, ruling anything out. “Yeah, we have a responsibility. We’ve taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Pelosi added.

She indicated that the death of Justice Ginsburg means that one of the Justices that would uphold the 8-year-old law of 2012 is no longer there, “and Obamacare may be in peril as a result, particularly if a conservative-aligned Justice is confirmed by then. So, the President isn’t rushing to make some kind of a decision because of the [pandemic]. He wants to crush the Affordable Care Act.”

Article II Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution gives the President the authority to choose Supreme Court Justices.

Newsmax News Anchor, Rob Schmitt, cited the possible fear of “a stacked court,” and asked about the idea of attempting to impeach the President of the United States again.

Retired Harvard Law Professor, Alan Dershowitz answered Schmitt quoting one of the authors of the U.S. Constitution stating:

“Alexander Hamilton would be turning over in his grave…The most dangerous thing is to use impeachment for partisan political purposes.”

Marsha Blackburn told Steve Hilton of Fox News that 29 times a President has nominated a Supreme Court Justice in an election year. She indicated that you’d have to go back to the 1800s to find anything different.

Trump and Biden both have stated in the past that if they were to choose a new Supreme Court Justice, it would indeed be a woman.

President Trump was asked, “Is there a chance you will announce your Supreme Court pick before Friday?” on Monday, September 21.

“I would say on Friday or Saturday I’ll be announcing the pick. It’s — five women are being looked at and vetted very carefully. Five. And we’ll make a decision probably Saturday, but Friday or Saturday,” said President Trump.

Biden indicated publicly that he would not supply a list of potential Supreme Court nominees prior to November’s election. He indicated his commitment to nominate a Black woman to the bench.