Iowa Representative Steve King, a
Republican, on Wednesday said that he would support impeaching
Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan for voting
to strike down state bans on gay marriage.
In the lead up to the case,
conservatives called for Ginsburg and Kagan to recuse themselves,
saying that both were biased in favor of gay rights because they had
presided over the marriages of same-sex couples. Ginsburg has united
five such couples, the most of any current or retired justice.
While appearing on Jan Mickelson's talk
radio program, King agreed with a caller who called for Congress to
remove the justices.
“That provision does exist,” King
responded, “and let's hear what the public has to say.”
“If that were put up before me today,
and I think I mentioned Ginsburg and Kagan as being two that had been
conducting same-sex marriages on their spare time and did not recuse
themselves, I would put up the vote to remove them from office.”
“And I'd like to see that case heard
again and it would come down four-to-three and in the end it would
come back to the states for that decision, where it should be.”
(Iowa has had marriage equality since 2009.)
King added that he wasn't sure “if
the public is ready for that,” explaining that impeachment is a
“political decision” and the timing is “up to the will of the
people.”
In the short term, King endorsed
“nationwide civil disobedience,” with the long-term goal for the
government to get out of the marriage business.
King added that LGBT rights advocates
would not stop “until they can force a priest to conduct a same-sex
marriage at the altar of a Catholic church.”