Democrats’ Partisan Supreme Court Legislation: ‘We All Know What A Tell Is’

Democrats Have Let The Mask Slip On The Real Impetus For Their Supreme Court ‘Ethics’ Bill

“The Democratic proposal won’t become law anytime soon. But when it comes to influencing Washington’s judicial wars, that’s not the point.” (“Dems Start Round One In Supreme Court Ethics ‘Boxing Match,’” Politico, 7/19/2023)

• “Top Democrats’ decision to push ahead on the bill during the high court’s off-season is designed to keep reminding voters about the conservative court’s more polarizing recent opinions, from last year’s reversal of Roe v. Wade to a more recent limit on LGBTQ protections. The strategy will bolster Democrats’ message heading into 2024.” (“Dems Start Round One In Supreme Court Ethics ‘Boxing Match,’” Politico, 7/19/2023)

• “Democrats do fundraise off the Supreme Court and have made the court and their decisions campaign issues, especially abortion.” (The Early 202, The Washington Post, 7/20/2023)

• “The Democratic slugfest is borne from frustration over former President Donald Trump’s appointment of three conservative justices, tipping the balance of the court rightward.” (“Dems Start Round One In Supreme Court Ethics ‘Boxing Match,’” Politico, 7/19/2023)

CNN’s PHIL MATTINGLY: “Is that the point here from your perspective? You’re trying to move this through committee to send a message and hope the that kind of unlocks the Chief Justice’s willingness to do something?”
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman: “Well, it’s more than just a message.” (CNN This Morning, 7/20/2023)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): “Think of a boxing match. If you don’t fight the first round, you can’t win the match…” (“Dems Start Round One In Supreme Court Ethics ‘Boxing Match,’” Politico, 7/19/2023)

• WHITEHOUSE: “… it’s impossible to know what the appropriate response is. So, I have not spoken out in favor of adding a number to the court, but I don’t think we should foreclose that in an amendment here...” (Senate Judiciary Committee Markup, 7/20/2023)

SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): “The movement to fix our broken Supreme Court is gaining momentum. The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act must pass out of the Judiciary Committee so we can finally bind these justices by a code of conduct. Then we need to expand the Court and restore democracy.” (Sen. Markey, @SenMarkey, Twitter, 7/20/2023)

Senate Democrats Are Joining Far-Left Pressure Groups Who Have Been Urging Them To ‘Go Beyond Just Disagreeing With The Court’s Decisions And Attack It As An Institution’ In Order To Pave The Way For Packing The Court

“[P]rogressive activists and leading members of [the Democratic Party] have been urging: Go beyond just disagreeing with the court’s decisions and attack it as an institution. Single out its six conservative justices as corrupt MAGA Republicans who are in the pocket of special interests. Question the conservative court’s very legitimacy.” (The New York Times, 7/13/2023)

“Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, has urged Democratic politicians to accuse the court of having a ‘legitimacy crisis.’ ‘We’d like to amplify anyone who uses this corruption/legitimacy messaging,’ Mr. Green wrote to lawmakers a few weeks ago. ‘Do you think your office can work this line into public statements as decisions come down?’ ‘Critiquing the institution, if done at a high crescendo, hopefully gets the court to be on their best behavior in the future,’ Mr. Green said.” (The New York Times, 7/13/2023)

“Brian Fallon is troubled by the impact of all the recent rulings, but he isn’t letting that distract him from trying to put in place the political foundation for a seismic change: expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court … Five years ago, Fallon, who has previously held senior jobs with Senator Chuck Schumer, Attorney General Eric Holder, and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, launched the advocacy group Demand Justice.” (Vanity Fair, 7/03/2023)

• FALLON: “Our approach [at Demand Justice] has been to try to be an insurgent and say, No, the whole thing is not on the level. And the people that tell you otherwise are just captive to the institution…. Start taking on the court rhetorically as a political villain …” (Vanity Fair, 7/05/2022)

• FALLON: “SCOTUS leaks are good. Elite lawyers on both the left and right treating the Court as precious all these years have just been giving cover to an institution that is wholly unaccountable. Rip the veil off.” (Brian Fallon, @brianefallon, Twitter, 5/03/2022)

SARAH LIPTON-LUBET, President of Take Back the Court Action Fund: “With its utter disregard for ethics, constitutional precedent, and the health and wellbeing of Americans, the Supreme Court has lost the public’s trust. The only way to rebuild faith in the Court is to restore balance, integrity, and independence by adding seats.” (Sen. Markey, Press Release, 5/16/2023)

SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “Today, Democrats are trotting out the latest pretext for their ongoing campaign to undermine the Supreme Court. The people who love to warn about defending democracy want to shatter the independence of a co-equal branch of government. Senate Republicans won’t let them succeed.” (Leader McConnell, @LeaderMcConnell, Twitter, 7/20/2023)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member: “There’s not a worse idea on the planet than [to] have politicians change the number of Supreme Court justices when they don’t like the decisions. That’s the end of the judiciary as we know it and they’re openly talking about doing it. … This needs to end. The effort by the left to destroy the Court in the eyes of the public is one of the most dangerous things I’ve seen since I’ve been there.” (Sen. Graham, Press Conference, 7/19/2023)

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “It’s not about oversight or accountability. It’s about outcomes that they don’t like.” (Sen. Grassley, Press Conference, 7/19/2023)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “It’s showboating… If the Supreme Court was handing out decisions that the left agreed with, they’d be the happiest campers in town. But because they’re handing down decisions that they don’t agree with, they want to discredit the judiciary, and the Supreme Court.” (“Dems Start Round One In Supreme Court Ethics ‘Boxing Match,’” Politico, 7/19/2023)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “This bill is not about ethics. … This bill is about the Groff case, the Elenis case, the Harvard case, it’s about Dobbs, it’s about Bruen, it’s about West Virginia vs. EPA. We all know what a tell is. Even if you’ve never played poker, you know what a tell is. A tell is behavior that gives unintended information about what you really think. There are plenty of tells about what this bill is really about. I still can’t get over, Mr. Chairman, that he said it. I still can’t get over that Senator Schumer went to the steps of the United States Supreme Court and said the following. I’m going to quote him because it gives me chills of the wrong kind. Senator Schumer said, … ‘You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.’ … You disagree with the opinions of the United States Supreme Court. … The answer is not to destroy the Supreme Court.” (Senate Judiciary Committee Markup, 7/20/2023)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “What we are witnessing right now, from Senate Democrats, is an organized, concerted, deliberate effort to smear, to try to delegitimize and to try to destroy the Supreme Court.” (Sen. Cruz, Press Conference, 7/19/2023)

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “They [Senate Democrats] have been on an absolute tear to delegitimize the Supreme Court. … They don’t want to talk about Senator Schumer over on the Supreme Court steps saying you will pay the price. Well see, this is their price. They are going to take this bill to Senate Judiciary Committee and they’re going to say we have to rein in the court, we have to reshape the court.” (Sen. Blackburn, Press Conference, 7/19/2023)

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): “They’d like very much to see if they couldn’t get more support for packing the court and diminishing the kind of public support that the court has … And this is part of that effort.” (“Dems Start Round One In Supreme Court Ethics ‘Boxing Match,’” Politico, 7/19/2023)