Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Monday, June 14, 2021
2021.0614.0010...
This is absolutely outrageous...
McConnell played slightly coy when discussing the possibility of a Supreme Court confirmation in 2023, telling Hewitt: “Well, we’d have to wait and see what happens.” But anyone who seriously believes a Republican-controlled Senate would confirm a Biden nominee that year—or even hold hearings on one—is deluding themselves. McConnell’s approach to judicial confirmations reflects two core principles of the modern GOP: first, that only the federal judiciary can impose key items in the Republican Party platform that are too unpopular to pass through the democratic process; and second, that only conservative judges faithfully apply the Constitution, whereas liberals make it up as they go along.
These principles might appear to contradict each other. But Republicans have harmonized them by convincing themselves that their platform perfectly reflects the Constitution. Thus, in the eyes of the GOP, when liberal judges issue decisions that align with Democrats’ priorities, they are judicial activists who are betraying their duty to apply the law as written. When conservative judges issue decisions that align with Republicans’ priorities, by contrast, they are independent jurists who are honoring the Framers’ design.
This design, according to Republicans, includes a number of policy items that the GOP has struggled to implement through legislation due to lack of popular support. Consider gun laws. Most Republican politicians oppose bans on assault weapons and support the right to carry a concealed firearm in public. But Republicans have failed to repeal the assault weapon bans currently on the books in seven states and the District of Columbia. They have also failed to repeal the strict limits on concealed carry that remain in nine states.
McConnell played slightly coy when discussing the possibility of a Supreme Court confirmation in 2023, telling Hewitt: “Well, we’d have to wait and see what happens.” But anyone who seriously believes a Republican-controlled Senate would confirm a Biden nominee that year—or even hold hearings on one—is deluding themselves. McConnell’s approach to judicial confirmations reflects two core principles of the modern GOP: first, that only the federal judiciary can impose key items in the Republican Party platform that are too unpopular to pass through the democratic process; and second, that only conservative judges faithfully apply the Constitution, whereas liberals make it up as they go along.
These principles might appear to contradict each other. But Republicans have harmonized them by convincing themselves that their platform perfectly reflects the Constitution. Thus, in the eyes of the GOP, when liberal judges issue decisions that align with Democrats’ priorities, they are judicial activists who are betraying their duty to apply the law as written. When conservative judges issue decisions that align with Republicans’ priorities, by contrast, they are independent jurists who are honoring the Framers’ design.
This design, according to Republicans, includes a number of policy items that the GOP has struggled to implement through legislation due to lack of popular support. Consider gun laws. Most Republican politicians oppose bans on assault weapons and support the right to carry a concealed firearm in public. But Republicans have failed to repeal the assault weapon bans currently on the books in seven states and the District of Columbia. They have also failed to repeal the strict limits on concealed carry that remain in nine states.
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