Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said Wednesday it makes sense that people are talking about impeaching his state’s Supreme Court judges after they struck down a congressional map last month and drew new district lines.
“I think it’s inevitable that that conversation is going to take place,” Toomey said when asked about the efforts at a press conference at the state capitol. “I think state House members, state senators are going to be speaking among themselves and their constituents, and the fundamental question is does this blatant, unconstitutional, partisan power grab that undermines our electoral process, does that rise to the level of impeachment? That’s ultimately their decision, but it’s a conversation that has to happen.”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the congressional map drawn by the GOP-led General Assembly in 2011, saying it constituted a partisan gerrymander and violated the state constitution.
The court gave the state legislature until Feb. 9 to submit a new map to Gov. Tom Wolf, which was ultimately rejected by the Democratic governor. The justices, with the help of Stanford Law School professor Nathaniel Persily, then stepped in to draw the new district lines, and a new congressional map was released this week.
Toomey railed against the new map during the press conference and said the court “engaged in a really amazing, highly partisan, unconstitutional power grab.” The Pennsylvania Republican said the justices have no constitutional authority to draw the district lines.
“What the court has done is truly breathtaking,” he said. “They have grabbed power from the elected legislators. They did it in order to draw a partisan map of their own. They’ve engaged in partisanship while hiding behind a mirage of impartiality, and there’s a reason that our Constitution assigns to the legislative branch the drawing of congressional maps.”
After the map from the state Supreme Court was released Monday, President Trump urged Pennsylvania Republicans to challenge the new district lines.
“Hope Republicans in the Great State of Pennsylvania challenge the new ‘pushed’ Congressional Map, all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary,” Trump tweeted. “Your Original was correct! Don’t let the Dems take elections away from you so that they can raise taxes & waste money!”
Hope Republicans in the Great State of Pennsylvania challenge the new “pushed” Congressional Map, all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary. Your Original was correct! Don’t let the Dems take elections away from you so that they can raise taxes & waste money!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2018
The National Republican Congressional Committee said Republican officials at the state and federal level plan to file a lawsuit in federal court challenging the state high court’s map.
“State and federal GOP officials will sue in federal court as soon as tomorrow to prevent the new partisan map from taking effect,” Matt Gorman, NRCC communications director, said in a statement. “The suit will highlight the state supreme court’s rushed decision that created chaos, confusion, and unnecessary expense in the 2018 election cycle.”
Toomey said he plans to be as “helpful as I can be and as helpful as it’s appropriate to be” regarding the impending lawsuit.
