Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said objections to Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett from Democrats would confuse middle school students on basic civics.
On Monday, the first day of Barrett’s confirmation hearings, Sasse criticized Democrats who invoked President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Obamacare, and previous criticisms of Barrett’s Catholic faith.
“I don’t know what any of that has to do with what we’re here to do today. Huge parts of what we’re doing in this hearing would be really confusing to eighth-graders if civics classes across the country tuned into this hearing and tried to figure out what we’re here to do,” Sasse began.
“Lots of the discussions we’ve had in here today fit better in a Finance Committee hearing than in a Judiciary Committee hearing,” the Republican continued. “So I think it would be very useful for us to pause and remind ourselves and do some of our civic duty to eighth-graders to help them realize what a president runs for, what a senator runs for, and, on the other hand, why Judge Barrett is sitting before us today and what the job is you’re being evaluated for. So, if we can back up and do a little bit of eighth-grade civics, I think it would benefit us and benefit the watching country and especially watching eighth-grade civics classes.”
Sasse separated the term “civics” from “politics,” which he referred to as “subordinate, less important stuff that we differ about,” by defining civics as values that members of both parties agree on. He cited religious liberty as a civic, “pre-governmental” right.
“Because religious liberty is the fundamental 101 rule in American life, we don’t have religious tests. This committee isn’t in the business of deciding whether the ‘dogma lives too loudly’ within someone,” he said, referencing a comment made by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, during Barrett’s 2017 appeals court hearing.
He called upon Democratic and Republican lawmakers to reject “judicial activism” and court-packing, ideas he said fall under the definition of civics.
“When they want to try to change the outcome of what courts do in the future by trying to change the size and composition of the court, that is a bad idea that politicizes the judiciary and reduces public trust,” he continued, blasting Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for his refusal to say whether he would support a policy of packing the court.
