Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called on the Senate on Monday to say whether Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath about their views on Roe v. Wade.
The big picture: Gorsuch and Kavanaugh both said during their Senate confirmation hearings that they viewed Roe v. Wade as settled precedent. The justices' statements have since come under increased scrutiny after they joined the majority opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade last month.
Driving the news: Ocasio-Cortez, along with Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), asked the Senate to issue a finding on whether Kavanaugh and Gorsuch lied under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- "Multiple Supreme Court Justices misled the American people during their confirmation hearings about their views on Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood," they said in the letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. "At least two of them, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, directly lied to Senators."
- "We respect the right of individual Justices to have their own views on various constitutional issues," they added. "But we cannot have a system where Justices lie about their views in order to get confirmed. That makes a mockery of the confirmation power, and of the separation of powers."
Background: Ocasio-Cortez has expressed her concerns about Gorsuch and Kavanaugh multiple times since the Roe ruling.
- The congresswoman told "Meet the Press" in late June that impeachment should be "very seriously considered" if the justices lied during their confirmation hearings.
- She also sarcastically tweeted "[t]he least they could do is let him eat cake" on Friday after Kavanaugh was forced out of a restaurant by abortion rights protesters.
