GOP COURTS WOE: DEMS
Pay vow over Justice Barrett
Prominent Democrats are vowing that Republicans will rue the day they confirmed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Democratic lawmakers both in and out of the Senate, which voted to confirm President Trump’s nominee to the nation’s highest bench on Monday, threatened myriad proposals following the justice’s swearing-in.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a close Joe Biden ally who sits on the Judiciary Committee, warned during an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” Monday evening that “we’ve got to look at our federal courts as a whole.”
Asked how Democrats would be able to get retribution for Republicans achieving a 6-3 conservative court, the Delaware senator said, “[W]e’ve got to have a wideopen conversation about how do we rebalance our courts . . . Because we’ve seen hundreds of conservative judges put on circuit courts and district courts all over this country in the last four years, in many cases, too young, too unqualified and too far right to be allowed to sit peaceably without our reexamining the process, the results and the consequences.”
Coons’ remarks were the first from a Senate Democrat on making changes to lower courts as well as the Supreme Court.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), another Senate Judiciary Committee member, went as far as introducing a resolution on the Senate floor expressing that “unlimited anonymous spending to influence our judiciary undermines the integrity of our judicial system and damages Americans’ confidence that all people receive equal justice under law.”
Speaking to The Hill Monday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) addressed the recent “speculation” about the potential for Democrats to expand the Supreme Court and push court changes should they win back the White House and Senate in November.
“Will Democrats go to new, extraordinary lengths to maximize their power given the extraordinary lengths Republicans have gone to maximize their power? This is not a conversation that is ripe enough yet, but what do Republicans expect?” the Connecticut Democrat asked.
“Do we just unilaterally stand down and not choose to use the same tools that Republicans did in the majority?” he continued, adding: “I think there are now new rules in the Senate, and I think Republicans have set them.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) warned Monday that Republicans would come to regret their decision to move forward on Barrett’s nomination.
“My colleagues may regret this for a lot longer than they think,” he said.