Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is warning that the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, which has no army or other means to enforce its rulings, is at risk.
Blumenthal says President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are “eroding, indeed destroying, that legitimacy” by holding confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the court with just 22 days till the Nov. 3 election.
“I’m really deeply concerned that the Supreme Court is losing the trust and respect of the American people,” Blumenthal said on Monday. “The authority of the Supreme Court depends on that trust. It has no army or police force to enforce its decisions. The American people follow the Supreme Court’s commands, even when they disagree because they respect its authority.”
He continued to argue Senate Republicans have “stripped” voters of their “say in this process” to “confirm a justice who will strike down in court — legislate from the bench — what they can’t repeal in Congress.”
“Your participation, let me be very blunt, in any case involving Donald Trump’s election would immediately do explosive enduring harm to the Court’s legitimacy and to your own credibility. You must recuse yourself,” he added.
Finally, he urged Americans to call their senators and voice their opposition to confirming Barrett to the court.
Watch the video below:
.@SenBlumenthal to Judge Amy Coney Barrett: "Your participation, let me be very blunt, in any case involving Donald Trump's election would immediately do explosive enduring harm to the Court's legitimacy and to your own credibility. You must recuse yourself." #SCOTUShearing pic.twitter.com/NQA4fNBIOn
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 12, 2020
On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee kicked off four days of confirmation hearings where senators will have a chance to ask Barrett questions, as IJR reported.
Senate Democrats lashed out at their colleagues for pushing ahead with the confirmation process with less than a month till the election. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said, “We’re here because in the middle of a deadly pandemic, in the middle of an ongoing election, Senate Republicans have found a nominee in Judge Barrett who they know will do what they couldn’t do: subvert the will of the American people and overturn the ACA and overturn Roe v. Wade.”
“This is a charade when they say this a normal Judiciary Committee hearing for a Supreme Court nomination. There is nothing about this that’s normal. It’s not normal that Senate Republicans are rushing through a confirmation hearing, violating their own words, their own statements, betraying the trust of the American people and their colleagues,” he added.
