FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. -- The following is a statement of Committee for Justice president Curt Levey on the updated list of potential Supreme Court nominees issued by President Trump today:
Washington, D.C. -- We commend President Trump for updating his list of potential Supreme Court nominees, which gives voters the transparency they deserve on this important issue. Moreover, we are thrilled that the twenty additions to the list are full of potential nominees with extremely impressive credentials, brilliant legal minds, and records indicating not only a commitment to textualism and originalism – in contrast to the "living Constitution" favored by progressives – but also a willingness to stick to those principles even when the results will be unpopular with the nation's academic, media and cultural elites.
Polls and pundits agree that Trump's 2016 list of potential Supreme Court nominees was an important factor in his election. We expect his new list to be an important factor in his reelection. That's because the judicial nominations issue traditionally works in favor of Republicans – it's no coincidence that the issue was virtually ignored at last month's Democratic convention – and because the list will reassure the GOP base that a conservative majority on the Supreme Court is within reach after a disappointing 2019-20 Supreme Court term.
Given the great success of Trump's 2016 list, many election analysts have been asking why Joe Biden has not released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees. One reason is likely that the Democratic base, which has moved sharply to the left, would only be satisfied by potential nominees radical enough to scare the swing voters Biden will need in November.
Another reason may well be that as Biden tries to portray himself as a uniter, he doesn't want to remind voters that, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he presided over the shameful Senate hearings for GOP Supreme Court nominees Clarence Thomas and Robert Bork, hearings that ushered in the divisive, highly partisan judicial confirmation process we see today.
Whatever the reason for his hesitance, Joe Biden owes it to the voters to issue a list of specific potential nominees for the sake of transparency and so that the American people can understand his vision and plans for the Supreme Court.
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