Slamming the United States Supreme Court, 33-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [APC] showed she knows little about the U.S. Constitution, thinking Congress under Article 1 can impose oversight on the Judicial Branch, saying she would subpoena Supreme Court Justice John Roberts. AOC doesn’t like recent Supreme Court rulings, calling the court “Fascist” or “authoritarian” because she doesn’t like recent rulings on student debt, affirmative action and gay rights. AOC wouldn’t call for oversight if liberal Associate Justices Elana Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor or Kenji Brown Jackson held a majority and ruled for the liberal court. Roberts complained about Kagan’s recent rebuke, saying recent conservative rulings threatened the court. Kagan wouldn’t make that argument if liberals prevailed on the High Court. Conservatives enjoy a 6-3 majority in former President Donald Trump’s last three appointments.
Roberts wants Kagan to understand that it undermines the court’s legitimacy when the liberal minority complains about the majority’s opinions. When liberals call the shorts, they don’t complain about rulings opposed by conservatives. But now that shoe is on the other foot, with conservatives in control, AOC complains about fascist rule. Opposition to recent court rulings shows the bitter divide on the High Court, where three liberal justices rant about conservative rulings. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade June 24, 2022, the three liberal justices took to the streets in protest. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Dobbs v. Jackson Health Center that the U.S. Constitution offered no guarantees to abortion. Since 1973, Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, giving women the right to medical decision making when it came to abortion, something reversed by Dobbs v. Jackson.
AOC accused conservatives on the Supreme Court of “beginning to assume the power of a legislature,” making conservative arguments that the Court legislates from the bench. But Supreme Court rulings do have consequences analogous to legislation when, for instance, the High Court ruled against Alabama’s redistricting plan, saying it violated the 1964 Voting Rights Act. When Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined liberals to toss out Alabama’s conservative redistricting map, AOC didn’t scream fascism or rant about the High Court. AOC only complains when the Court’s conservative majority votes against her Democrat-socialist wishes. AOC said about the Supreme Court’s recent rulings on student debt and race-based admission practices it was a “signal of dangerous creep towards authoritarianism and centralization of power of a legislature.”
AOC’s has no problem with legislating from the bench as long as it agrees with her socialist ideology. “They are expanding their role into acting as though they are Congress itself and that, I believe, is an expansion of power that we really must be focusing on,” AOC said, using the same argument as conservatives when they don’t like liberal rulings. AOC was especially critical of the High Court’s ban on 80-year-old President Joe Biden’s $400 billion in student loan debt forgiveness. AOC sees nothing wrong with students taking out signature loans then reneging when finances get tight. ACO would better spend her time with her liberal colleagues limiting the amount of interest and terms of student loans. Biden tired to fulfill a campaign promise to AOC’s progressive caucus, forgiving billions of debt by fiat, something that runs counter to U.S. business principles.
AOC wants Congressional oversight to extend to the Supreme Court, especially over recently disclosed gifts given to Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas who accepted lavish trips by billionaire GOP donor Harlan Crow. Roberts assured Congress that he would police justices behavior internally, something that obviously didn’t happen under his watch. Alito and Thomas see no problem with taking gifts from billionaire GOP donors. Article 1 has much more oversight capacity over Article 2, the presidency, than over the Supreme Court. AOC acts like the judicial branch is not an independent branch of government subject of Constitutional protections from Congressional oversight. “The Supreme Court has not been receiving adequate oversight necessary in order to preserve their own legitimacy,” AOC said, stepping over the line with the Judicial branch.
As long as the court rules consistent with AOC’s socialist philosophy, she has no problems with the court needing oversight. Oversight, subpoena and impeach authority is preserved, like in Congress, when justices don’t do what AOC wants. Isn’t that the exact same attitude as weaponizing Congress to go after a sitting president when they don’t like conservative policies? AOC gave former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) all the rope needed to hang 77-year-old former President Donald Trump for impeachable offenses. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had a vendetta against Trump, abusing her impeachment power to impeach the former president twice. AOC has no problems using the club of state against her political enemies, now turning her ire to the Supreme Court. AOC, and other liberals, need to re-read the Constitution before speaking in public.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
