Impeaching John Roberts from the Supreme Court
This week, I’m focusing on three Democratic impeachment resolutions aimed at John Roberts, RFK Jr., and Pete Hegseth.
What the legislation does
On May 21, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN9) introduced six articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts:
“Politicization of the Court”
“Violation of oaths” and “Entrenchment of minority rule”
“Empowering the rich over the poor”
“Unaccountable executive branch.” This references Roberts’ decision in 2024’s Trump v. United States, in which the right-wing majority ruled that a president cannot be held legally liable for so-called “official acts” taken while in office.
“Arbitrary decisions.” This references the widespread use of the so-called shadow docket during Roberts’ tenure, in which cases are decided without oral argument or full-length written decisions.
“Failure to recuse,” in cases potentially involving his wife Jane’s job as a legal recruiter.
Context
Roberts has served on the Court since 2005, but this appears to be the first-ever attempt to impeach him.
After President George W. Bush nominated Roberts, the Senate confirmed him by a decently wide margin: 78 to 22. For comparison, Bush’s next nominee only a few months later, Samuel Alito, was confirmed by a considerably narrower 58 to 42.
Two future Democratic presidents and a future Democratic presidential nominee all voted against Roberts: then-Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL), Joe Biden (D-DE), and Hillary Clinton (D-NY).
Over Roberts’ 21 years on the Court, he’s come to be considered “an occasional swing vote,” though still leaning to the right overall.
He voted with the right-wing majority in overturning Roe v. Wade and abortion rights, in ending corporate spending limits in elections, in abolishing affirmative action at public universities, and establishing gun ownership as an individual right under the Second Amendment.
(He also voted with the court’s right wing against establishing same-sex marriage nationwide, although his side lost that case.)
However, he also joined the Court’s liberals in upholding the Affordable Care Act / Obamacare as constitutional, and striking down the Trump administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.
Most recently, Roberts joined the right-wing majority in deciding the Voting Rights Act of 1965 did not mandate the creation of “majority-minority” voting districts. The decision was widely seen as benefitting Republicans, who no longer have to sculpt out Democratic-leaning districts, particularly in southern states.
Outside of his actual legal decisions, Roberts has caused controversy for refusing to adopt the same code of ethics under which lower court judges must abide. (In 2023, after a series of scandals, the Supreme Court voluntarily adopted a code of conduct, though some legal experts called it “more loophole than law.”)
What supporters say
Impeachment’s supporters argue that they didn’t have it out for Roberts in the first place, but now it’s finally come to this.
“For years, I defended this Court, particularly Chief Justice Roberts,” Rep. Cohen said in House floor remarks. “I thought that, despite the outrageous conduct of Justices like Alito and Thomas…, the Chief Justice really wanted to preserve the Court as an institution. I thought he would be the one to stand up for the Court.”
“The past several years have shown he is incapable of doing that or didn’t want to.”
What opponents say
Roberts himself has not publicly commented on the impeachment articles, but in 2025, he advised against impeaching any judicial official.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in a March 2025 statement, after President Donald Trump publicly advocated impeaching several lower-court judges who had ruled against his administration. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
Roberts supporters might say that this impeachment effort’s entirely Democratic cosponsorship similarly indicates its truer purpose: disagreeing with Roberts’ decisions on the Court.
What happens next
Rep. Cohen’s impeachment resolution has not yet attracted a single cosponsor, not even a fellow Democrat.
It’s been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Odds of passage are low in the Republican-controlled chamber.
Impeachment requires a House majority vote, followed by a two-thirds Senate vote for actual removal from office.
Has this ever happened before?
The House has only ever impeached one Supreme Court justice: Samuel Chase in 1804.
Before 1911, Supreme Court justices used to “ride circuit,” sitting in on cases for lower courts. Chase, nominated by President George Washington, was accused of refusing to dismiss biased jurors and excluding witnesses for the defense in some of these lower-court cases.
The Senate actually majority-voted to expel Chase from his position on three of the eight counts he faced, but that still fell short of the two-thirds margin necessary for removal.