Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., took to Twitter Sunday afternoon to double down on her belief that the Biden administration should “simply ignore” a federal court’s injunction on a popular abortion pill. She also defended her push to impeach Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
In a series of tweets, Ocasio-Cortez said the ruling was “judicial overreach” as it forces the executive branch to limit the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. She also said judges who “repeatedly break the law” should face impeachment, without specifically naming Thomas.
“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.”
The New York Democrat said the branches of government differ in function and that Biden’s executive authority allows him to dictate how the ruling should be enforced – or not.
AOC SAYS SHE MAY DRAFT CLARENCE THOMAS IMPEACHMENT ARTICLE IF NO ONE ELSE DOES
She also likened the current situation to the Trump administration’s inaction on restoring the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy after a court ordered him 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.
The Democratic lawmaker added: “GOP operate in complete contempt for the law until they’re in a position to shred Constitutional & human rights.”
In another tweet, she added: “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.”
AOC’s comments echoed those she shared during an interview Sunday with CNN’s Dana Bash, where she said there was an “extraordinary amount of precedent for this.”
“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 directed the Food and Drug Administration to halt the approval of mifepristone while a lawsuit challenging its safety and approval made its way through court.
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.
During the weekend interview, the New York lawmaker said she did not think Judge Kacsmaryk or any of the courts have the authority 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.
Separately, Ocasio-Cortez is also pushing to impeach Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who she accused of “repeatedly breaking the law” after an investigation found he shared a yearslong friendship with Harlan Crow, a billionaire donor and real estate developer.
ProPublica found Thomas took several trips and received lavish gifts from Crow without disclosing them. Thomas subsequently admitted to receiving the “personal hospitality” but defended such behavior as “not reportable.”
On Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said Thomas’ position on the court was an “emergency” and said he should be impeached.
The “Squad” member doubled down on her claim during Friday’s interview, after the host asked her to respond to Thomas’ statement defending his actions.
“He stated the reason and the rationale for this exemption was personal hospitality from an old friend. He said himself, in his statement, a friend of 25 years. Justice Thomas has been on the court for 30 years. What he is admitting in his statement, in an attempt to defend himself, is he began this relationship with a billionaire and received these sorts of gifts after he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
She added: “I think that in and of itself indicates a very serious problem.”
The New Yorker also called for Chief Justice John Roberts to come forward and explain whether he was aware and if he allowed the “corruption” to continue.
Ocasio-Cortez said the house was not in session this week, so she would use the time to strategize, but said she may ultimately be the one to introduce impeachment articles against Thomas.
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
