Josh Hawley, 14 GOP Senators Move to Censure Chuck Schumer for Threatening Justices

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced a resolution on Thursday, along with 14 Senate Republicans, to censure Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for threatening Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.

During a rally in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the Senate minority leader warned that there would be consequences if the two justices voted the wrong way during a case that challenged Louisiana’s abortion law.

“I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you, if you go forward with these awful decisions,” Schumer said.

Schumer conceded on Thursday that he “shouldn’t have used the words I did” but then blamed Republicans for “manufacturing outrage” over the controversy.

The Hawley resolution cited that Schumer had admitted that threatening statements could “increase” the danger of violence against officials. Schumer had acknowledged this in the wake of the June 2017 attack against multiple members of Congress, which had nearly ended the life of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA).

The Hawley resolution reads:

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Senator Schumer has acknowledged that threatening statements can increase the dangers of violence against government officials when he stated on June 15, 2017, following the attempted murder of several elected Members of Congress, ‘We would all be wise to reflect on the importance of civility in our [N]ation’s politics’ and that ‘the level of nastiness, vitriol, and hate that has seeped into our politics must be excised.’

Hawley’s proposal to condemn Schumer quickly gained support from across the Senate Republican conference. Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Braun (R-IN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), David Perdue (R-GA), Tim Scott (R-SC), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and Martha McSally (R-AZ) all cosponsored the resolution to condemn Schumer.

Loeffler said Thursday:

Words matter. There’s no room for threatening rhetoric in American politics. Senator Schumer’s use of threatening language against two sitting Supreme Court justices was inappropriate and sets a dangerous standard in an already polarized political climate. I applaud Chief Justice Roberts for condemning the Minority Leader’s remarks. His behavior cannot go unchecked, and this resolution will demonstrate that this level of hyper-partisan rhetoric against any official will not be tolerated. It is time the Senate holds him accountable.

Perdue said: