Mike Pence accuses Kamala Harris of planning to 'pack Supreme Court' if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed - and she hits back at him that Trump administration has packed courts with white judges
Vice President Mike Pence sought to pin down Sen. Kamala Harris Wednesday about whether Joe Biden will seek to pack the Supreme Court if elected – then got accused of packing the federal judiciary with white judges.
Pence made the attack in an expected follow up to the first presidential debate in Cleveland, where Biden dodged questions about whether he would seek to expand the size of the court if Democrats gain control of the Senate and Donald Trump is able to install a third conservative justice on the high court.
'Are you and Joe Biden going to pack the court if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed?' Pence asked her late in the debate, mentioning Trump's pick to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris accused the Trump administration of packing the courts with white judges, noting none out of more than 50 confirmed were black. But she dodged a question on increasing the size of the Supreme court
He raised the challenge when asked a question about how he would respond if the court strikes down the Affordable Care Act. Instead, he talked about abortion and raised the court packing issue.
He said her party was advocating the move 'if you don't get your way.'
'I think the American people would really like to know if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States, are you and Joe Biden if somehow you win this election going to pack the Supreme Court to get your way?'
Pence repeated the question and demanded an answer, after himself avoiding direct responses to the moderator's questions while filibustering his way through several earlier questions in the debate.
Harris didn't respond directly, but she did push back. 'I’m so glad we went through a little history,' she began.
She referenced an election eve vacancy under Abraham Lincoln, and said 'The American people are voting right now and it should be their decision about who will serve on this most important body for a lifetime.'
But rather than go through the grievance-filled recent history of Supreme Court battles – and the Republican Senate's failure to confirm Barack Obama's Supreme Court pick in 2016, she brought up another court fact, firing an unexpected volley at Pence.
Pence raised the question again, and accused her of giving a 'non-answer' and said they 'are going to pack the Supreme Court.'
'Let’s talk about packing the court,' she told him.
'Of the 50 people who president Trump appointed to the Court of Appeals, not one is black. You want to talk about packing a court? Let’s have that discussion,' said the Senate Judiciary Committee member.
'You want to talk about packing a court - let's have that discussion,' she said.
She said many of Trump's nominees are 'purely ideological.'
According to a June Bloomberg News story, Trump had appointed one Hispanic and no blacks among 53 judges confirmed to the Court of Appeals after his nomination. The powerful lifetime appointees rule on key cases, some of which go on to the Supreme Court.
Vice President Mike Pence tried to pin down Sen. Kamala Harris on whether the Biden administration would seek to pack the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has nine justices, with one seat vacant currently
U.S. Supreme Court nominee and chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Merrick Garland never got a hearing after President Obama nominated him for the high court
President Donald Trump adjusts the microphone after he announced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington
Harris pointed out the Trump administration had not put forward a black judge for the Courts of Appeals
By contrast, 27 per cent of Barack Obama's and 15 per cent of George W. Bush's appeals court nominees were black.
If Barrett is confirmed, conservatives will hold a 6-3 majority on the court, a tilt that infuriates liberals, after watching the GOP Senate stall the vacancy under Obama. It would be Trump's third justice installed on the court in a country that is nearly evenly divided and where Joe Biden leads in the polls.
Both Trump and George W. Bush were elected without winning the popular vote and were able to reshape the court, while the Senate by design is not a strict majoritarian body.
Some Democratic activists and strategists are urging Biden to play hardball if Barrett gets on the court by ending the filibuster and pushing legislation through the Senate to expand the size of the court, which is established in law though not in the Constitution.
It's not just a theoretical issue – a lopsided conservative majority could end up nullifying much of the agenda Biden tries to enact even if Democrats capture big majorities in Congress.
Republicans already ended the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, which is why the GOP has been able to push through conservative Trump nominees. Democrats ended the filibuster for lower courts before that.
Pence brought up the Barrett nomination several times, saying at one point he did not know how she would rule on Roe v. Wade, although she signed onto a newspaper advertisement condemning it.
Harris warned that the Trump administration was in court trying to overturn the Affordable Care Act.
Moderator Susan Page brought up Barrett's White House nomination ceremony, which she called a superspreader event.
No comments