By: Senator Marsha Blackburn
| A Supreme Court nomination is a legacy-defining moment for any president of the United States. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees all nominations to the federal bench, I recognize the gravity of filling a lifelong Supreme Court vacancy and the tremendous impact a justice can have on our country. Given President Biden’s disastrous track record only one year into office, the American people should have serious concerns over whom he personally chooses to ascend to the highest court in the land. I pray that President Biden has shown better judgment in nominating a Supreme Court justice than he exhibited in the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, his reluctance to address inflation, or his failed attempts to remake the American economy through socialist legislation. But given these repeated failures, I simply cannot give President Biden the benefit of the doubt. … The Senate must not blindly confirm a justice who will merely serve as a rubber stamp for a radical progressive agenda or worse, that advances that agenda by making law from the bench. Judge Jackson must be committed to upholding the rule of law and the Constitution as written. A justice who fails to anchor her decisions in the Constitution is legally adrift, guided only by politics and her own personal policy preferences and worldview. … Too often, federal justices and judges have disregarded the clear meaning of the Constitution’s text and instead injected their own policy views into our law, thereby subverting the will of the people. This form of legislating from the bench has no place in our American system of government. Judge Jackson must answer whether she believes the words of the Constitution have enduring meaning or whether she thinks they can simply be twisted to fit her desired outcome in any given case. … Perhaps most importantly, the American people have a right to know if Judge Jackson will capitulate to a growing chorus within the Democratic Party that is calling on Congress to pack the Supreme Court. Justice Stephen Breyer, for whom Judge Jackson clerked and who she would replace if confirmed, made clear that he opposed the idea of packing the court, saying that such a move would fundamentally undermine Americans’ trust in the court’s decisions. On this point, Justice Breyer was exactly right. … Judge Jackson should similarly reject the Democrats’ calls to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court. Anything less is disqualifying. … Senate Democrats may be all too willing to support Judge Jackson’s confirmation, regardless of her views on the rule of law and the Constitution. As a mom and a grandmom, I have a duty to safeguard the liberties and individual freedoms of our future generations. I will fight for families, not big government, to have control over their own decisions. My Republican colleagues and I will be demanding a thorough, thoughtful and fair process. The American people deserve nothing less. Read the full Op-Ed HERE. |
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