Why Rep. Cohen filed articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justice John Roberts
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said this week he introduced articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
In a statement, Cohen accused Roberts of committing “high crimes and misdemeanors by violating the Constitution, disregarding his statutory obligations as Chief Justice, and breaching his oaths of office.”
“Chief Justice Roberts has led the Court to the breaking point, with perceived political bias, arbitrary and unexplained rulings, and continually ruling for the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and the broader citizenry,” Cohen said.
What is Cohen saying Roberts did?
Cohen says under Roberts’ leadership as chief justice, he’s let the nation’s highest court become a partisan force, citing its recent redistricting decisions.
“Time and time again, the Court has violated its own principles with a pattern of interfering in elections on behalf of Republican candidates,” Cohen said.
In April, the Supreme Court said the Voting Rights Act — the landmark legislation from 1965 intended to protect Black Americans from disenfranchisement — does not permit states to draw voting districts primarily based on race. This ruling in the Louisiana v. Callais case led to politicians across the South rushing to redraw congressional boundaries.
Cohen pointed to Tennessee dismantling its only majority-Black congressional district, and the Virginia Supreme Court striking down a voter-approved congressional map, in his statement against Roberts.
“In contrast, the Court bypassed its rules to enable Louisiana to redraw its map in time for the 2026 elections,” Cohen said. “Similarly, on an expedited basis, the Supreme Court vacated lower court injunctions preventing Alabama from redistricting and allowed a new map to take effect eight days before the primary election.”
Other articles of impeachment Cohen introduced mentioned Roberts “endorsing a corrupt campaign finance system” through his vote in cases such as Citizens United v. FEC, and the court’s ruling that presidential immunity extended to former presidents in Trump v. United States.
“Chief Justice Roberts violated the Constitution of the United States and his Judicial Oath by usurping Congress’s legislative role and exempting the President of the United States from criminal liability for illegal conduct,” Cohen said.
Roberts also failed to fully report assets on his financial disclosures, and didn’t recuse himself in cases where his wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, worked as a legal recruiter for firms litigating before the Supreme Court, Cohen contended.
Supreme Court judges have been impeached before
Barring impeachment or resignations, Supreme Court appointments are typically for life. There’s only one judge who has ever been impeached, though — Associate Justice Samuel Chase — and this happened centuries ago.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach Chase in 1804, according to History.com. President George Washington appointed Chase to his Supreme Court position. Although he signed the Declaration of Independence, Chase irritated Thomas Jefferson and other Republicans in office. His impeachment, History.com said, was politically motivated.
Chase was acquitted of charges that he acted in a partisan matter during trials in 1805, and served on the court until he died in 1811.
Though he wasn’t actually impeached, Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, in 1969, resigned amid a scandal where he was a paid consultant for a family foundation headed by a man being investigated for securities fraud.
There have been 14 federal judges who have been impeached since 1803. Of these, eight were convicted by the U.S. Senate, three were acquitted, and three resigned.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-NY, in 2024 introduced articles of impeachment against two Supreme Court Justices: Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
Ocasio-Cortez said Thomas failed to disclose his financial income, gifts and reimbursements, among other items; and refused to recuse from matters concerning his spouse’s legal and financial interest. Alito, Ocasio-Cortez said, refused to recuse himself from cases where he had a personal bias, and also failed to disclose gifts he received.
“Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito’s pattern of refusal to recuse from consequential matters before the court in which they hold widely documented financial and personal entanglements constitutes a grave threat to American rule of law, the integrity of our democracy, and one of the clearest cases for which the tool of impeachment was designed,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the time.
Nothing ended up coming of Ocasio-Cortez’s resolution, though.
What would it take to remove a Supreme Court Justice?
The impeachment process for a Supreme Court Justice is similar to the one for the president. It starts with a member of the House of Representatives introducing articles of impeachment. Should a majority of representatives vote in favor of impeachment, the matter then goes to a trial in the Senate. Two-thirds of the Senate is required to vote in favor of a conviction to officially remove a justice from the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court approval ratings at a low point
Polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center show that most Americans have an unfavorable view of the Supreme Court, as well as Roberts.
Gallup surveys from September 2025 found 52% of those polled disapprove of the way the Supreme Court is doing their job. Favorable views of the Supreme Court reached a low point not seen for 30 years, per a survey Pew conducted in August 2025.
Roberts, according to a Gallup poll from December 2025, had an approval rating of 38% and disapproval rating of 53%.
This negative view of the Supreme Court was largely along party lines, though. Seventy-one percent of Republicans polled by Pew had a favorable view of the court.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
