After The New York Times published new allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, many candidates running for the Democratic nomination for president have called for his impeachment. Similar to removing a sitting president from power, to remove a Supreme Court Justice, the House of Representatives must vote in favor of impeachment. Then, the Senate must convict them.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley introduced a resolution calling for an impeachment inquiry on Tuesday, but some Democratic senators think it will be a fruitless effort.
“We’ve got to get beyond this ‘impeachment is the answer to every problem.’ It’s not realistic,” Sen. Dick Durbin told Politico in an article published Monday. “If that’s how we are identified in Congress, as the impeachment Congress, we run the risk that people will feel we’re ignoring the issues that mean a lot to them as families.”
John King, CNN’s chief national political correspondent, said that even if Senate Democrats are hesitant about removing Kavanaugh from power, the question of impeachment is one for House Democrats to answer. Though King said Democratic leadership does not appear to be interested in impeaching Kavanaugh, it does not mean impeachment is off the table.
“If you’re going to impeach or re-investigate Brett Kavanaugh, that would come down to House Democrats, who at least so far have not shown any urgency to do so,” King said during an interview with Boston Public Radio on Tuesday. “I think [impeachment] is a ‘to be determined,’ especially now that you do have vocal members like Ayanna Pressley trying to stir this.”
