{"id":158674,"date":"2023-03-04T15:21:23","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T19:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=158674"},"modified":"2023-03-04T15:21:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-04T19:21:23","slug":"biden-administration-targets-senate-judiciary-for-constitutional-demise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=158674","title":{"rendered":"Biden Administration Targets Senate Judiciary for Constitutional Demise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more-->by Renee Parsons<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If there is one committee within the hallowed, marbled halls of the United States Senate, one historic committee that has maintained its devotion to the rule of law, that Committee struggles today for its survival as an exemplar of judicial excellence.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>That one source of democratic principles and values consistent with a principled legal standard and the US Constitution would be the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/about\/ranking\"><span class=\"s2\">Senate Judiciary Committee<\/span><\/a>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Upon ratification of the US Constitution in 1789,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/article-3\/\"><span class=\"s2\">Article III<\/span><\/a> established the judicial power of the US vested in one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/nominations\/supreme-court\"><span class=\"s2\">Supreme Court<\/span><\/a> and such \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscourts.gov\/judges-judgeships\/about-federal-judges\"><span class=\"s2\"><i>inferior Courts<\/i><\/span><\/a><i> as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish<\/i>.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The Judiciary Act of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Judiciary-Act-of-1789\"><span class=\"s2\">1789<\/span><\/a> signed into law by President George Washington organized the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/about\/committee\"><span class=\"s2\">Federal Court system<\/span><\/a> into a three tiered structure with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscourts.gov\/about-federal-courts\/court-role-and-structure\/about-us-courts-appeals\"><span class=\"s2\">Appellate<\/span><\/a> Circuit Courts and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscourts.gov\/about-federal-courts\/court-role-and-structure\/about-us-courts-appeals\"><span class=\"s2\">District Court<\/span><\/a>s and one Supreme Court defining each <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/jurisdiction\"><span class=\"s2\">jurisdiction<\/span><\/a> to include lifetime appointments. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">As validation, it is useful to note that our most famed and esteemed anti-Federalist Founders <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagounbound.uchicago.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=3274&amp;context=uclrev\"><span class=\"s2\">Thomas Jefferson<\/span><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Federalist_No._51\"><span class=\"s2\">James Madison<\/span><\/a> opposed establishment of a proposed Federal judiciary as potentially leading to <a href=\"https:\/\/tenthamendmentcenter.com\/2012\/06\/04\/thomas-jefferson-on-judicial-tyranny\/\"><span class=\"s2\">tyranny<\/span><\/a> by investing too much power in mere mortal Judges to define what was constitutional or not. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>One of Senate\u2019s oldest, most influential and prestigious, the Judiciary Committee was established in 1816 with one of its major tasks to process Presidential <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/nominations\/judicial\"><span class=\"s2\">judicial nominees<\/span><\/a> through the committee hearing and approval process to final floor approval by a simple one-vote majority.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Lifetime compensation for Federal <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_States_district_court\"><span class=\"s2\">District Courts<\/span><\/a> appointments earn<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>$232,000\/year while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscourts.gov\/about-federal-courts\/court-role-and-structure\/about-us-courts-appeals\"><span class=\"s2\">Appellate Circuit<\/span><\/a> Court Judges, one step away from the Supreme Court, earn $246,000\/year with an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ntu.org\/foundation\/tax-page\/salaries-for-members-of-congress-supreme-court-justices-and-the-president\"><span class=\"s2\">Associate S.Ct Judge<\/span><\/a> at $285,000 as of 2023.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Once it became clear that Republicans failed to take control of the Senate, the Biden Administration\u2019s assault on the Senate Judiciary Committee achieved a new threshold of frenzy in its attempt to fill the Federal bench with unqualified applicants as they destroy the United States Constitution.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>While Committee website quote from its Chair Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill): \u2018<i>The confirmation of highly qualified judges is one of the great shared successes of President\u2019s Biden and Senate Democrats<\/i>\u201d is little more than a cruel hoax, the self serving maxim is no longer relevant or accurate in its portrayal of the Committee since the 2022 election.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>In fact, quite the opposite is true. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s1\">Anyone believing that partisan gibberish has not yet experienced the embarrassing spectacle of transmogrification as Democratic zealots rubber stamp every incompetent, mediocre nominee &#8211; no matter its gross lack of judicial philosophy or moral guidelines on their way to the most significant judicial appointments in the country.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Since 2022 election, the Administration\u2019s quality of nominees has reached a new bottom-of-the-barrel with White House favoring diversity-hire applicants who meet the cultural Marxist test rather than an elevated legal standard of knowledge and experience.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Since the <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Federal_judges_nominated_by_Joe_Biden\"><span class=\"s2\">Biden Presidency<\/span><\/a>, 152 Article III applicants have been nominated with 107 approved as of February 23, 2023 thereby achieving almost a 75% approval rating.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>There are currently <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Federal_judges_nominated_by_Joe_Biden#Waiting_for_vote_in_Senate\"><span class=\"s2\">twenty two<\/span><\/a> nominees awaiting Senate approval, most of whom were narrowly approved by the Judiciary Committee with some quisling Republican Members voting with the Democrats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In what should be required viewing for every American citizen, an \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=g6oafHRmE2o\"><span class=\"s2\">Epic Rant<\/span><\/a>\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>aka Ode to Nominating a Ham Sandwich by Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) brilliantly acknowledges the depth of how thoroughly the Democrats have embraced the destruction and destabilization of a 230 year old Federal judiciary system committed to preservation of our Constitutional Republic:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201c\u2026<i>what I cannot understand<\/i> <i>over the last two years is that every Democratic member of this Committee has voted for every single Biden judicial nominee one hundred percent without failing and I will say on the Senate floor that every Democrat Senator has voted for every Biden nominee.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Not a single Democrat in the US Senate has mustered the courage to vote No on a single nominee\u2026when we recently had a Republican President and majority in this body, and there were many of us said, on a particular nominee, that this is not a good nominee; we are not going to support this nominee, the White House withdrew the nomination.\u201d<\/i> 2\/09\/2023<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">On February 2, Sen. Lindsay Graham (SC) assumed the role of \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/about\/ranking\"><span class=\"s2\">ranking member\u2019<\/span><\/a> on Judiciary due to term limit rules set by the Senate Republican Conference.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>As Graham votes <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/3847743-graham-under-fire-for-voting-for-biden-judicial-nominees\/\"><span class=\"s2\">more often<\/span><\/a> with the Democrats in both the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor, it may be difficult to understand how the ranking Committee Republican who votes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/lindsey-graham-gop-hot-seat-110000108.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tLw&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFv99kybgvXidooBjV_biBZQZq_vJ1tGN78xhvEvYdxJL-H3uowcosGKd9kuTYLVS3oGBOQFpBbNKH5WMS1qFMRQprXHcuGGnBpM17DO7wjfNIRWR8zt6ssXbSjfu_fJ_EsQgaeZuMgxH0AVV8XjLIpOq26zxpdJgoMxalfk86zT\"><span class=\"s2\">against his own party<\/span><\/a> in favor<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>of<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the \u2018woke\u2019 Marxist-leaning Democrats is able to function as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegatewaypundit.com\/2023\/02\/toxic-rino-lindsey-graham-accused-of-fast-tracking-bidens-radical-judicial-nominees\/\"><span class=\"s2\">true representative<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/a> of the committee which he is supposed to lead. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">On February 9<\/span><span class=\"s3\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\">, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2023\/02\/10\/senate-committee-advances-6-extremist-biden-judicial-nominees-once-shield-scrutiny-ted-cruz-says\/\"><span class=\"s2\">twenty four<\/span><\/a> Federal District and Circuit Judge nominees, leftover from the 117<\/span><span class=\"s3\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> Session of Congress, were awaiting approval by the full Judiciary Committee. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>While the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/about\/members\"><span class=\"s2\">full Committee<\/span><\/a> is split 11 Democrats and 10 Republicans, thirteen applicants were approved on a strict party-line vote 11 \u2013 10 while the remaining nominees were approved with Sen. Lindsay Graham (SC) and other defectors voting with the Democrats.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The nomination of Biden\u2019s Supreme Court nominee, <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Ketanji_Brown_Jackson_confirmation_hearings_and_votes\"><span class=\"s2\">Katanji Brown Jackson<\/span><\/a>, is worth noting as it set the tone for how <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/04\/02\/ketanyi-brown-jackson-even-chose-leniency-in-baby-sex-cases\/\"><span class=\"s2\">inferior<\/span><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2022\/apr\/5\/ketanji-brown-jackson-being-soft-on-pedophilia-and\/\"><span class=\"s2\">defiled<\/span><\/a> candidates are routinely hustled through the Judiciary Committee process.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Approved by the Committee on a 11 &#8211; 11 vote in April 2022, it was the first time in modern history when a S.Ct. nominee failed to receive a plurality in the committee; thus requiring a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/live-news\/ketanji-brown-jackson-confirmation-vote-senate-committee\/index.html\"><span class=\"s2\">discharge petition<\/span><\/a> to allow her nomination to go to the Senate floor.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Once on the Senate floor, Jackson was approved by the full Senate 53 \u2013 47 with three Republicans (Senators Collins (Maine), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theolympian.com\/news\/politics-government\/national-politics\/article272654898.html\"><span class=\"s2\">Murkowski (Alaska<\/span><\/a>) and <a href=\"http:\/\/politicalsignal.com\/mitt-romney-tries-confronting-mtg-and-it-blows-up-in-his-face\/\"><span class=\"s2\">Romney<\/span><\/a> (Utah) voting with the Democrats.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>If the Republican trio, which routinely vote as Democrats, had voted with the Republican caucus, Jackson would have received another tie vote 50 \u2013 50 as Vice President Kamala Harris was needed to break the tie in order to approve Jackson\u2019s nomination to the highest Court in the country.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">This example of how Republicans undermine their own party and its partisan principles is replete throughout the Committee process while Biden has not yet recommended one Federal judge candidate that has earned a solid recommendation with full Committee support.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Jackson\u2019s appointment was not the elevated experience one expects of a lifetime Supreme Court seat or any Federal judicial appointment but rather significantly lowered the bar for judicial requirements so that the remainder of Biden\u2019s nominees are living up to the dumbed-down quality necessary for Democrats to successfully complete their shameful legislative assignment.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>As deficient candidates are allowed to dominate the Federal Court system, the quality of Court decisions will fail to meet the highest Constitutional threshold.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In addition, the Democratic majority has proposed to eliminate the \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Blue_slip_(federal_judicial_nominations)\"><span class=\"s2\">blue slip\u2019<\/span><\/a> option which has been part of the Committee process for a century.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>By submitting the Blue Slip on any specific home-grown judicial nominee, that Senator is indicating support for that nominee; or by withholding the Blue Slip, that nominee does not have the support of its home town Senator.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Democrats oppose the use of the Blue Slips because it inhibits their ability to nominate substandard candidates who are devoted to upheaval of the Federal judicial system so that each and every mediocre candidate can be approved without serious challenge by Republican members of the Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Due to space limitations, here is a partial list of recent Judiciary Committee hearings with Biden nominees that Republican Senators have interrogated, many of whom were unqualified to be sent to the Senate floor.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It may be noted that many of these nominees exhibit little \u2013 no preparation and have been coached with frequent dodging of their answers:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u201c<i>I have not had the opportunity<\/i>,,,,\u201d or \u2018<i>I was acting as an advocate<\/i>\u201d or \u201c<i>thank you Senator for asking that question<\/i>.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Of all twenty one Judiciary Committee Senators, only Senators Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Josh Hawley (Mo..) and Ted Cruz ( Texas) are looking at 2024 re-election.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Their loss would be a devastating setback for what remains of our Constitutional Republic.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Renee Parsons\u00a0served on the ACLU\u2019s Florida State Board of Directors and as president of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, staff in the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, an environmental lobbyist for Friends of the Earth and a staff member of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=158674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158674\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=158674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=158674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=158674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}