In a heated statement on Monday, President Biden criticized Senate Republicans for blocking Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court nomination while confirming Amy Coney Barrett. He described the actions as a “blatant attack on nominating and confirming justices to the court itself.”
President Biden expressed frustration with the tactics that have shifted the Supreme Court to the right as he outlined proposed reforms. These reforms include implementing 18-year term limits and establishing a new ethics code for justices.
Many see this proposal more as a messaging drive than a serious legislative push.
“Y’all remember when Justice [Antonin] Scalia died in February of 2016 and the Republicans blocked our — the president’s nomination, President Obama’s nomination to fill that vacancy for nearly a year by making up an entirely new standard that there be no confirmations of the court during an election year,” Biden stated.
“But then, when Justice [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg died in 2020, Republicans rushed through the President Trump’s nominee at the very same time, votes are being cast in an election that Trump would lose. It’s outrageous!” he added.
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who was the Senate Majority Leader at the time, led the Republican strategy during the Supreme Court confirmation battles. In 2020, he defended his actions, asserting that it was not hypocritical to support Barrett’s nomination while blocking Garland’s.
McConnell stated that waiting until after an election to fill a Supreme Court vacancy is “the historically normal outcome when you have divided government.”
In 2021, President Biden nominated Merrick Garland to serve as Attorney General.
Republicans often accuse Garland of political bias, particularly in criminal investigations involving Biden and his family, as well as in prosecutions against former President Donald Trump.
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