Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said there is precedent for confirming a U.S. Supreme Court judge in a short period of time, providing her remarks Friday on Sirius XM’s Breitbart News Tonight with host Jerome Hudson.
Blackburn joined Breitbart News Tonight just a few hours after the Supreme Court announced the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had served on the court since 1993 and was one of its most well-known, liberal members.
Blackburn first expressed her sympathy for Ginsburg’s family and offered words of praise for the late justice, saying, “She was quite a remarkable individual and so accomplished and so straightforward and blunt and really earned her spot, and that always impressed me. She and I came from very different political positions. You can say that she was truly a principled classic liberal.”
Hudson pointed out that Ginsburg’s open seat on the Supreme Court has already generated significant politicization from Democrats who oppose President Donald Trump appointing the next justice.
Blackburn affirmed, “We know that the Democrats are going to try to make this an issue in the election. We know that it is important that we fill this vacancy on the court. It’s important that we move forward.”
Hudson highlighted Blackburn’s influential role on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which votes to bring Supreme Court nominees before the Senate floor, and noted Democrats are seeking to block such a vote from occurring.
Blackburn, in response, cited various past justices who were confirmed more quickly than usual, noting that “there is precedent” for the process to transpire in a short period of time.
“Bear in mind,” Blackburn said, “John Paul Stevens was confirmed in 19 days. Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed in 33 days. Justice Ginsburg was confirmed in 42 days. So that gives you an idea that even though it typically takes about 60 days to confirm a justice, there is precedent for doing it in a shorter period of time.”
Asked how the sudden court vacancy will affect the upcoming presidential election, just over six weeks away, Blackburn assessed, “This is something that energizes support for the president because people do not want activist judges on the court. They do not want judges who are going to legislate from the bench. What they want are judges who will abide by the rule of law … and that I fully believe is going to resonate with a lot of people. This is something that is going to cause people to think, ‘I’ll go vote for Donald Trump’ because the courts are important.”
Hudson also noted that incumbent senators’ stances on filling the court vacancy may have an impact on their Senate races. Blackburn responded that constituents “want somebody who is going to be even-handed on the court, and they do not want someone who is going to be an activist. So in these races that are close races, North Carolina, Maine, McSally’s race in Arizona, Ernst’s race in Iowa, you know that these candidates are being able to say, ‘I’m going to support a constitutional jurist, a constructionist.’”
“That is something that is calming to people,” Blackburn added. “They don’t want to hear, ‘Oh I’m going to support an activist judge.’”
Breitbart News Tonight broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot channel 125 weeknights from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern or 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific.
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