1. The nominee must
pledge to a view on Roe v. Wade in order to be confirmed. We will let liberal icon Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg handle this one:
“You are well aware that I came to this proceeding to be judged as a judge, not as an advocate. Because I am and hope to continue to be a judge, it would be wrong for me to say or preview in this legislative chamber how I would cast my vote on questions the Supreme Court may be called upon to decide. Were I to rehearse here what I would say and how I would reason on such questions, I would act injudiciously. Judges in our system are bound to decide concrete cases, not abstract issues; each case is based on particular facts and its decision should turn on those facts and the governing law, stated and explained in light of the particular arguments the parties or their representatives choose to present. A judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecasts, no hints, for that would show not only disregard for the specifics of the particular case, it would display disdain for the entire judicial process.”(U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Hearing, 7/20/1993)
And
no less than Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed:
“There is a grand tradition that I support that you can't ask a judge who’s nominated for a -- or a potential judge who is nominated -- for a judgeship about a specific case that might come before them.” (Sen. Schumer, Press Conference, 2/7/2017)
2. But if you want to talk about issues, even there Democrats are not telling the truth. Let's talk about the left's efforts to rally their base by saying Obamacare will be repealed:
DEMOCRATS: President Trump’s nominee could overturn the Affordable Care Act.
REALITY: Justice Anthony Kennedy voted to strike down the Affordable Care Act. Even if the same case were to come before the Court, and Justice Kennedy’s replacement voted the same way, the law would still be upheld, because the same five-Justice majority that upheld the law is still on the Court.
3. Led by Senator Schumer, Democrats are saying the nominee
should not be considered in an election year after Republican Leader McConnell
did not schedule a vote in 2016 after Justice Scalia passed. From
the Washington Post:
But here’s the rub: the Republican position, whether you disagreed with it or not, clearly was based on the fact that it was a presidential election year. Here’s Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on ABC’s “This Week” on March 20, 2016:“The American people are in the middle of choosing who the next president is going to be. And that next president ought to have this appointment, which will affect the Supreme Court, for probably a quarter of a century.” . . .The Democrats are going to attack any nominee from President Trump. The attacks will not be based on the nominee’s record or even well-grounded in reality. President Trump’s list is outstanding and any nominee from it would be committed to the rule of law. RNLA will be working to help win the public argument to confirm the nominee in the coming weeks.
Bottom line: it’s pretty clear the debate in 2016 revolved around nominations made in a presidential election year. Democrats are simply spinning a false narrative.
