Democrats aren’t just opposing the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. They’re having a tantrum over it.
On Thursday, as the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Barrett’s nomination, Democrats boycotted.
“Throughout the hearings last week, committee Democrats demonstrated the damage a Justice Barrett would do — to healthcare, reproductive freedoms, the ability to vote, and other core rights that Americans cherish,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Judiciary Committee Democrats said in announcing their boycott. “We will not grant this process any further legitimacy by participating in a committee markup of this nomination just 12 days before the culmination of an election that is already underway.”
Instead of showing up, they planted behind their microphones large-sized photos of children who they claimed would be in danger were the Supreme Court to overturn Obamacare next month. This was part of their strategy to turn the hearings into a messaging event about the issue of preexisting conditions.
It was a pathetic display. Democrats can raise procedural or ideological arguments against Barrett all they want, but the reality is that they have not been able to make a dent in her qualifications or her integrity.
For three days, Barrett sat and listened to senators and put her cutting intellect and deep knowledge of the law on full display. She was calm, friendly, and unflappable. She made clear her belief in judging based on the meaning of the Constitution and the law, not based on what she may hope it would be. And she easily swatted away Democratic attempts to try and get her to pre-commit to positions on cases that could come before the court.
Toward the conclusion of the hearings, ranking Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein was effusive about how they had gone. “This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in,” said Feinstein, who was elected in 1992. She even gave Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham a hug.
Her brief lapse into civility did not sit well with liberals, many of whom immediately called for her resignation. The left-wing Demand Justice group declared, “It’s time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee. If Senate Democrats are going to get their act together on the courts going forward, they cannot be led by someone who treats Sunrise activists with contempt and the Republican theft of a Supreme Court seat with kid gloves.” Pro-abortion group NARAL assailed Feinstein, saying she had “offered an appearance of credibility to the proceedings that is wildly out of step with the American people.”
The attacks on Feinstein are representative of the new guard trying to topple the old guard in the Democratic Party. The resurgent young radicals don’t want the confirmation process to become more civil — they want to expand the Supreme Court and pack it with leftist judges. It’s unfortunate that Joe Biden, who in Thursday’s debate once again promised to be president of all people regardless of party affiliation, still refuses to shut down this idea.
