The following is the statement of Committee for Justice president Curt Levey on Joe Biden's proposed court-packing commission and today's Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Judge Barrett:
Washington, D.C. — We applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee's approval today of Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination. Democrats' childish tactic of boycotting the vote succeeded only in allowing history to record that Barrett was approved unanimously by the Committee. This was just the latest in a series of failed Democrat tactics to derail her nomination.
In contrast, Judge Barrett used last week's Judiciary Committee hearing to clearly demonstrate to the America people why her intellect and character is widely admired across the legal community. As a result of her stellar performance and Democrats' missteps, polls demonstrate that popular support for Barrett's confirmation has grown, even among Democrats, throughout the confirmation process.
Frustration over Democrats' failure to slow the Barrett nomination has increased pressure on Joe Biden to support packing the Supreme Court. Biden opposed court packing during the primaries but, more recently, has refused to say whether he supports or opposes it before the election. Now, in a pre-recorded interview with 60 Minutes, Biden is proposing a commission to study the issue, which is just another way to dodge the question at tonight's debate and, most importantly, until after the election.
Even more concerning, Biden told 60 Minutes that he wants to "reform the court system" – in other words, not just the Supreme Court – and will study "a number of alternatives that go way beyond packing." It seems that the "reform" Biden and his Democrat colleagues have in mind, as revenge for President's Trump's successful appointment of 3 Supreme Court justices, is even more radical than we imagined.
It is notable that today's Committee vote occurred just one day before the anniversary of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork's defeat by the Senate in 1987 after Joe Biden chaired Bork's Judiciary Committee hearings. When Joe Biden tells us that he will repair the divisiveness in our nation, it is vital to remember that, during the Bork and Clarence Thomas hearings he chaired, Biden pioneered the use of the politics of personal destruction against judicial nominees. The result is the divisive, politicized confirmation process we see today.
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