On Day 3 of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, it appears the circus has continued and politicians are grandstanding as much as the protesters — in a different way. Still, the best thing to come from the many hours of the hearing is a 15-minute speech Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., gave. While senators gave opening statements, Sasse gave America the civics lesson it desperately needs. Sasse’s 15-minute speech (and the op-ed which accompanied it) is one every high school civics class should hear. Not so they can listen to yet another politician opine, but so they can understand the basics of what previous generations would have learned from “Schoolhouse Rock” about how the three branches of government work: Who makes laws? Who signs laws? Who makes sure policies are consistent with other laws?
Not only did Sasse take time to explain how the branches should operate, but he further clarified why hearings like this one had become a circus of protests, TV cameras, and hate speech.
It’s because legislators who are supposed to make laws don’t really do it. They appoint bureaucrats to do what legislators should have done, and when things go wrong, as they always do, the public can’t find a face to blame and so they look to the most obvious thing: The nine people sitting on the Supreme Court, whose faces they can see and whose opinions they can excoriate.
Sasse explained thusly: “What we mostly do in Congress is not pass laws but give permission to bureaucracy X, Y, or Z to make law-like regulations. We write giant pieces of legislation with undefined terms — and then say the secretary of such-and-such shall promulgate rules that do the rest of our jobs.” He even bravely identified why lawmakers do this, and he said it’s because they love power more than the people and job security more than preserving liberty. “The reason this institution punts its power to exec-branch agencies is because it’s a convenient way to avoid responsibility for unpopular decisions. If your biggest long-term priority is just re-election, then, sadly, giving away power is a good strategy.”
It didn’t take long for the reality of what Sasse was describing to play out in real time during the hearing. On Wednesday, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., questioned Kavanaugh about Garza v. Hargan, a case involving a pregnant, undocumented, immigrant minor who wanted an abortion while in the United States. Durbin said to Kavanaugh, “You’re still stopping her [from getting an abortion].” Later, he said, “You are suggesting she should wait to have a sponsor appointed.” Kavanaugh clarified several times: “I’m not. I’m a judge. I’m not making the policy. My job is to decide whether that policy is consistent with law. What do I do? I look at precedent.”
[Also read: Dick Durbin gave Brett Kavanaugh a 528-page book; he took it home and devoured it]
Several times during that exchange, Kavanaugh had to defend himself and clarify he in fact was not the one responsible for the particular policy at play — he was a judge making a fair ruling on said policy. The video shows exactly what Sasse was describing: a sitting senator doing his best to vilify a judge who isn’t even on the Supreme Court (yet!) for making a ruling on a policy the legislative body should have dealt with.
If only Durbin had taken Sasse’s history lesson 20 years ago.
Upon review of the multiday confirmation hearings, there are sure to be some memorable moments, quotes, and ideas displayed. But so far, the best has come from a 15-minute speech by a historian-turned-senator. The video should be played in high school civics classes for decades to come.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
