US Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, again called for the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday during a committee markup of a proposed constitutional amendment on the composition of the high court.
Cohen introduced six articles of impeachment against Roberts on May 21.
In his remarks, Cohen said Roberts and at least five other justices "have it all wrong."
"They are supposed to have integrity, impartiality, fealty to the Constitution, and be unencumbered by the politics of the day," Cohen said. "But today we have a Court that refuses a binding code of ethics … They don't have ethics … They operate as a political arm."
Cohen said the court "undercuts our core and explicit constitutional principles, like that no one is above the law, and meddles in politics in pursuit of partisan interests."
Cohen said he had long defended the court and Roberts in particular, but that recent years had changed his view.
"I thought that, despite the outrageous conduct of Justices like Alito and Thomas, the Chief Justice really wanted to preserve the Court as an institution," Cohen said. "I thought he would be the one to stand up for the Court. The past several years have shown he is incapable of doing that or didn't want to."
Cohen said Roberts had violated his oaths and called on committee members to support the impeachment effort.
"Chief Justice Roberts unfortunately deserves to be impeached, and convicted and removed from the Court because he has not done his duty and has violated his oaths," Cohen said.
