Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Renewing Consideration Impeaching Recently Elected State Supreme Court Justice

Thursday, September 14th, 2023 -- 10:00 AM

(Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is renewing consideration of impeaching a newly elected state Supreme Court justice a day after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he would not sign into law a plan from Vos to write new electoral maps in an effort to bypass the liberal-controlled court.

According to Molly Beck with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Vos and other Assembly Republicans put forward a bill Tuesday that would direct nonpartisan legislative agency staff to write new legislative boundaries, a move aimed at rendering moot lawsuits before the Wisconsin Supreme Court that could upend the current GOP-favored maps.

The proposal came about a month after Vos first publicly warned newly seated Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz would risk being impeached if she did not recuse from the redistricting lawsuits because she called the maps "rigged" while campaigning.

Vos had softened his tone on impeachment just before releasing the new bill. But Evers quickly squashed the proposal to draw new maps. Now, Vos is "putting together a panel" of former Wisconsin Supreme Court justices "to advise him on what parameters/criterion would surround impeachment," according to WISN-AM conservative radio host Jay Weber.

"It's NOT off the table now that he's floated the Iowa Model. Vos says he doesn't want to go down that path, but would," Weber said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

It's unclear which justices Vos will be consulting on the matter. Vos did not immediately respond to questions from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Just a day before announcing his effort to probe the idea of impeaching Protasiewicz, Vos scolded the media for reporting his past comments floating the idea of impeachment.

"It has to be where they violate the oath of office, right? Justice Protasiewicz who prejudged cases does not recuse herself, right? That could be something we would consider," he told WSAU host Meg Ellefson on Aug. 11 about what would push them to the point of considering impeachment.

Since Vos first raised the idea of impeaching Protasiewicz, Democrats have launched a $4 million ad campaign against Republican lawmakers. The Republican Accountability Project, a national anti-Trump group focused on voting issues, also announced a six-figure ad buy on Monday to pressure 20 lawmakers to back off impeachment.

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