Dems Found a Sneaky Way to Get a Statue of RBG at the Capitol

On Monday, the House passed legislation to honor former Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor with statues in the Capitol. The bill previously passed the Senate by unanimous consent in December. The bill was authored by Senate Rules and Administration Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). The legislation now awaits Joe Biden’s signature.

“The United States Capitol is a global symbol of democracy. This iconic building where we debate and craft law is also a museum of American art and history, with a rich collection of portraits, paintings and statues. Among the hundreds of sculptures, just 14 honor women leaders,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), who sits on the House Administration Committee. “By adding statues of these two pioneering Supreme Court justices, we will honor their legacy and inspire all who pass through these halls.”

Something seems very off about this. A statue honoring the first woman to the Supreme Court makes some sense—you could certainly make a case for that.

O’Connor was nominated by Ronald Reagan to the Supreme Court in 1981 and was the first woman Supreme Court Justice. Does anyone really believe that Democrats would have put forth a bill honoring just O’Connor (who generally sided with the conservative wing of the court, though she was an occasional swing vote), or was this really about getting a statue of liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Capitol?

Perhaps the best way to answer this question is with another question: would Democrats support legislation that would honor Justice Thurgood Marshall and Justice Clarence Thomas, the first two black men on the Supreme Court, with statues in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds?

Last year, the House passed legislation to replace the bust of former Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol with a bust of Justice Thurgood Marshall—but it has remained in the Senate ever since.

I’d like to see a Republican introduce legislation to honor Marshall and Thomas with statues at the Capitol and see if Democrats are cool with honoring the first two black Supreme Court justices the same way they are honoring the first two women Supreme Court justices.