Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) remains MIA in the Senate, which has put the brakes on judicial nominations. This has some democrats calling for Feinstein to resign immediately so she can be replaced. Feinstein, clearly having no interest in resigning her position early despite her poor physical and mental health, has requested that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) temporarily fill her seat on the influential Judiciary Committee in order to get judicial nominees through.
Republicans are pushing back against this proposal. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) took to Twitter on Saturday, expressing his belief that Republicans should not let this happen because it only helps the Democrats transform the judiciary.
“Republicans should not assist Democrats in confirming Joe Biden’s most radical nominees to the courts,” Cotton tweeted.
According to Chris Bedford, the future executive editor of the forthcoming Common Sense magazine, if Republicans were to comply with Feinstein’s request, they would essentially be assisting in the approval of radical leftist judges.
“With what evidence can any Republican claim they would be given the same quarter if one of them threw themselves upon their colleagues’ mercy? The party that voted to impeach President Donald Trump twice was disciplined and committed in its opposition to his judicial nominees,” Bedford wrote. “Even today, if left-wing activists and their allies in the press had their way, the courteous tradition of the ‘blue slip’ (which allows senators to hold up nominees from their own states) would be abolished.”
And Republicans have the power to ensure that Feinstein doesn’t get a temporary replacement.
“Committee assignments are decided at the beginning of the session, either by unanimous consent or, if contested, by the vote of at least 60 senators,” Bedford explains. While a few RINO Republicans may vote with the Democrats, it is unlikely they’d get enough to reach 60 votes.
And what’s the incentive for Republicans to go along with this idea? Democrats wouldn’t extend the same courtesy to them in the same situation, and it’s not like Joe Biden is nominating decent judges either. In fact, Biden’s selection of judges has come under heightened scrutiny as he has faced criticism for nominating individuals based on criteria other than their legal expertise. For example, his decision to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court was his fulfillment of a campaign promise to put a black woman on the Supreme Court.
Curiously, he settled on Jackson, who infamously couldn’t define what a woman is because she’s “not a biologist.” Jackson also faced intense scrutiny for her soft-on-crime judicial philosophy and record of leniency for child pornographers. Biden’s commitment to “diversity” over qualifications has had plenty of other embarrassing results. Some of Biden’s judicial nominees have struggled to answer basic questions related to the Constitution.
Related: Joe Biden’s Judicial Nominees Are Embarrassingly Awful
Republicans better not cave to the Democrats on this issue. If Democrats want to get judges confirmed, they’ll have to get Feinstein to resign. If Senate Republicans allow Democrats to make a temporary replacement, they’ll be aiding and abetting the confirmation of radical judges to the judiciary.
