Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he’s not backing off the impeachment option for liberal Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz and now argues Elections Administrator Meagan Wolfe should be removed from office.
The Rochester Republican in a Capitol press event expressed his disappointment Protasiewicz refused to recuse herself from hearing redistricting arguments. Still, Vos said he’ll be watching the new justice, who tipped the court balance 4-3 toward the left, to see if the nearly $10 million the Democratic Party of Wisconsin gave to her campaign impacts her rulings.
“We know ultimately if they decided to inject their own political bias inside the process and not follow the law, we have the ability to go up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and we also have the ability to hold her accountable to the voters of Wisconsin,” he said.
Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler in a statement charged: “Robin Vos blinked.”
“Threatening to impeach a justice in a case to which he is a party if she rules in ways that displease him is an outrageous attempt at political extortion in itself,” he said. “Time will tell if it’s just an attempt to save face. But right now, it’s a climb-down.”
Former Supreme Court Justices David Prosser and Jon Wilcox, who Vos earlier this week listed as part of a panel of three former justices he formed to look into impeachment standards, have advised Vos against seeking impeachment.
Vos argued respecting legal precedent is “the most important thing in our legal system.”
The state Supreme Court last year adopted maps drawn by the GOP-run Legislature, the same maps Protasiewicz called “rigged” on the campaign trail.
“If we follow past precedent, the laws are constitutional,” he said, “We’ve seen two different Supreme Courts find that they are, so let’s hope she sticks to her word when she said in her recusal ruling that there’s no need for her to recuse because she’s going to follow the law.”
Vos also acknowledged some of his Senate colleagues are looking at impeaching Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe, but signaled the Assembly isn’t quite there yet.
“I have sensed no groundswell whatsoever from my colleagues in the Assembly,” he said.
GOP Reps. Janel Brandtjen, of Menomonee Falls, Scott Allen, of Waukesha, Elijah Behnke, of Oconto, Ty Bodden, of Hilbert, and Chuck Wichgers, of Muskego, introduced a resolution last month calling on the Assembly to initiate impeachment proceedings against Wolfe.
Vos also said there is more than one person in Wisconsin who could do Wolfe’s job, adding she doesn’t have the confidence of the Legislature. While he said he doesn’t want to impeach her before the court case over her status is over, he did say there’s a pathway through the Joint Committee on Legislative Oversight’s ability to appoint an interim administrator 45 days after the Senate’s 22-11 vote to reject Wolfe’s confirmation.
“I think that’s a much preferable option than doing something where we are impeaching somebody who’s already illegally in office,” he said.
The state DOJ has asked a Dane County judge for an order preventing JCLO from appointing an interim administrator while the case is ongoing.
See coverage of the DOJ request here.
