Who was the only U.S. Supreme Court justice to have been impeached?

Samuel Chase was the only U.S. Supreme Court justice ever impeached. The House of Representatives impeached him on March 12, 1804, approving eight articles that accused him of misconduct and partisan behavior while presiding as a trial judge.

Chase was a prominent Federalist appointed to the Supreme Court by President George Washington in 1796. After Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans gained power, Chase’s forceful Federalist views made him a political target. The impeachment was therefore closely tied to the early struggle over judicial independence.

The Senate trial began in 1805 with Vice President Aaron Burr presiding. Senators acquitted Chase on every article because no count received the required two-thirds vote. He remained on the Court until his death in 1811.

A common mix-up is John Pickering, a federal district judge who was also impeached in 1804 and removed from office. Chase was not removed; the key distinction is that he remains the sole Supreme Court justice formally impeached.