AOC considering impeachment, Schumer weighing Supreme Court expansion in wake of Mitch McConnell's 'blatant, nasty hypocrisy'

GettyImages 1209895367 — Democratic Congresswoman from New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer listens during a press conference in the Corona neighbourhood of Queens on April 14, 2020 in New York City.
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a joint press conference on Sunday to discuss options for blocking Republicans from filling the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Ocasio-Cortez, in response to a reporter's question, said Congress should not rule out impeachment of either US Attorney General Bill Barr or President Donald Trump, which would delay any Senate confirmation vote.
"It's extraordinarily important that we understand the stakes of this vacancy," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Our reproductive rights are on the line. Our labor rights are on the line. Our rights to healthcare are on the line."
Schumer did not rule out expanding the Supreme Court if Democrats win a Senate majority this fall. "Everything is on the table," he said.
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Congress should not rule out impeaching US Attorney General Bill Barr — or President Trump, again — to block Republicans from filling the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Sunday.

"All of these options should be entertained and on the table," the New York Democrat said in a response to a reporter's question. The stakes, she said, are too high to let Trump pick a replacement before an election he might well lose.

"It's extraordinarily important that we understand the stakes of this vacancy," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Our reproductive rights are on the line. Our labor rights are on the line. Our rights to healthcare are on the line."

Impeachment would compel the US Senate to hold a trial at a time when it has precious few days left on its calendar to confirm a replacement for Ginsburg. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not ruled it out as a means of thwarting confirmation hearings.

"We need to make sure that we mobilize on an unprecedented scale to ensure that this vacancy is preserved," Ocasio-Cortez said.

The remarks came at a joint press conference with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a display of left-liberal unity.

—News12 (@News12) September 20, 2020

Schumer said he too is willing to consider radical options in the wake of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's "blatant, nasty hypocrisy," including an expansion of the Supreme Court itself.

"It will be a decision that comes to the Senate. We first have to win the majority before that can happen... but everything is on the table," Schumer said.

In February 2016, McConnell announced that he would block President Barack Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, claiming to be acting on principle: that no president should get to pick a new justice during an election year.

If Republicans are able to confirm another justice this year, Democrats feel they will have been robbed of two nominations, potentially tilting the court to the right for decades to come.

Expanding the court from nine justices to at least 11 has gone from an activist demand to being actively considered by Democratic leaders as a potential remedy.

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