SCOTUS Brief 3/1/2016
Spotlight on Democrats’ SCOTUS Confirmation Hypocrisy
- President Obama:
President Obama in February 2016: “I seek judges who approach decisions without any particular ideology or agenda, but rather a commitment to impartial justice, a respect for precedent, and a determination to faithfully apply the law to the facts at hand.” (President Obama, SCOTUSblog, 2/24/16)
President Obama in September 2005: “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind Judge Roberts is qualified to sit on the highest court in the land… what matters on the Supreme Court is those 5 percent of cases that are truly difficult… in those difficult cases, the critical ingredient is supplied by what is in the judge’s heart… I ultimately have to give more weight to his deeds and the overarching political philosophy… The bottom line is this: I will be voting against John Roberts’ nomination.” (Senator Barack Obama, Senate Floor Speech, 9/22/05)
- Vice President Biden:
Vice President Biden in February 2016: “I don’t believe in their heart they think this makes sense. We’ve never done this before. It’s – keep in mind, Rachel, if we don’t start – if we don’t nominate someone in the next month or so, start the hearing process. And they say nothing’s going to happen until the next election. It won’t be until next June or July before you have a Supreme Court justice.” (Vice President Joe Biden, Interview with Rachel Maddow MSNBC, 2/18/16)
Vice President Biden in June 1992: “It is my view that if a Supreme Court justice resigns tomorrow, or within the next several weeks, or resigns at the end of the summer, President Bush should consider following the practice of a majority of his predecessors and not name a nominee until after the November election is completed… It is my view that if the President goes the way of Presidents Fillmore and Johnson and presses an election-year nomination, the Senate Judiciary Committee should seriously consider not scheduling confirmation hearings on the nomination until after the political campaign season is over.” (Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Floor Speech, 6/1992)
- Senator Chuck Schumer:
Senator Schumer in February 2016: “The level of obstruction we’ve seen since Saturday is wrong. It’s unprecedented. It’s mind-boggling. When the hard right doesn’t get its way, their immediate reaction is: Shut it down.” (Senator Chuck Schumer, Politico “Schumer at center of Supreme Court fight,” 2/18/2016)
Senator Schumer in July 2007: “We should reverse the presumption of confirmation. The Supreme Court is dangerously out of balance. We cannot afford to see Justice Stevens replaced by another Roberts, or Justice Ginsburg by another Alito.” (Senator Chuck Schumer, Speech to the American Constitution Society, 7/2007)
- The Judicial Crisis Network released video last week contrasting what Democrats are saying now about confirming a new Supreme Court Justice with what Joe Biden said when he was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
WATCH: To confirm or not to confirm: Democrats vs. Joe Biden
