Democrats Push More Radical Biden Nominees Even After The White House Was Recently Forced To Withdraw Several

Just Last Month, The White House Was Forced To Withdraw The Nominations Of Two Judicial Nominees Who Were So Bad They Lacked Support Among Democrats And A Climate Activist Biden Nominated To Oversee Highway Safety Who ‘Faced Strong Opposition’

“The White House on [May 30^th] formally withdrew the nominations of two judicial picks and President Biden’s choice to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after each faced roadblocks to confirmation in the Senate.” (“White House Officially Withdraws Nominations Of Two Judges, NHTSA Director,” The Hill, 5/30/2023)

“Appellate court nominee Michael Delaney asked President Joe Biden to withdraw his nomination [May 18^th], a rare failure of a judicial nominee with Democrats controlling the Senate and White House. Several Democrats on the Judiciary Committee were resisting supporting Delaney to serve on the First Circuit Court of Appeals, in part because of his past work defending a school in a civil lawsuit over sexual assault. Delaney’s been stalled for weeks, but it became crystal clear his nomination was near its demise after he was not called up for a vote [May 18^th] in the judiciary panel …” (“Controversial Judicial Pick Asks Biden To Withdraw After Failing To Win Dem Support,” Politico, 5/18/2023)

“One of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees is pulling his name from consideration for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench, the second such politically painful withdrawal [during May]. Jabari Wamble, currently a federal prosecutor, is yanking his nomination to fill a district court seat in Kansas, according to a letter sent to Biden on Tuesday. His move follows that of Biden judicial pick Michael Delaney, who stepped out of contention as an appellate court nominee last week as it became clear that he lacked the Democratic support needed to advance…. Aides were under the impression that the American Bar Association would rate Wamble ‘not qualified’ for the nomination, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke candidly on condition of anonymity…. Biden previously nominated Wamble for an appellate judgeship last year, but the Senate never confirmed him.” (“Second Biden Judicial Pick In One Month Withdraws From Consideration,” Politico, 5/23/2023)

“The White House said on [May 30^th] that President Joe Biden is withdrawing the nomination of the acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to take the top job on a permanent basis…. Ann Carlson, the agency's chief counsel, was named acting head of NHTSA in September and formally nominated for the top position in March…. Her nomination faced strong opposition, with the 13 Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee earlier this month criticizing her role in the development of fuel-economy standards in 2021. They told Carlson the standards were ‘consistent with your long career as an environmentalist without traffic safety experience.’ NHTSA is set to soon propose new fuel economy standards for 2027 and beyond.” (Reuters, 5/31/2023)

• “The Biden-Harris transition team hired Carlson in January of 2021 to serve as NHTSA’s chief counsel. She was previously an environmental law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. In April, Fox News Digital reported that Carlson emailed colleagues at UCLA shortly after her hiring by the incoming Biden administration that she would serve in a role focused on combating climate change. Carlson reportedly boasted that her hiring was ‘evidence that the Biden Administration is truly committed to a “whole of government” approach to addressing climate change.’” (“Biden Withdraws Ann Carlson As Nominee To Lead US Auto Safety Agency After GOP Pushes Back,” New York Post, 5/31/2023)

Dale Ho, Biden’s Nominee To Be A District Judge For The Southern District Of New York, Is A Self-Described ‘Wild-Eyed Leftist’ Who Denigrates Our Constitutional Order And The Supreme Court, And Rejects Reading The Constitution According To Its Original Public Meaning

Dale Ho’s nomination was twice sent back to the White House because Democrats could not get enough support to advance his nomination. (PN1211, 117^th Congress; PN1501, 117^th Congress)

Dale Ho Rejects Reading The Constitution As It Was Written Because That ‘Is Not A Method Of Constitutional Interpretation That Can Reliably Lend Itself To Progressive Outcomes’ And Instead Prefers Interpreting The Constitution On ‘The Lived Experience Of Contemporary Americans’

DALE HO: “[P]rogressives should not shy away from articulating an alternate vision of constitutional interpretation to compete with originalism.” (Dale E. Ho, “Dodging a Bullet: McDonald v. City of Chicago and the Limits of Progessive Originalism,” William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, 12/01/2010)

• DALE HO: “ … originalism is not a method of constitutional interpretation that can reliably lend itself to progressive outcomes in all or even most matters.” (Dale E. Ho, “Dodging a Bullet: McDonald v. City of Chicago and the Limits of Progessive Originalism,” William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, 12/01/2010)

• DALE HO: “The Court’s greatest decisions under the Fourteenth Amendment … operated from the premise that the lived experience of contemporary Americans informs constitutional decisionmaking. This is far from a novel or embarrassing concept, and progressives should not shy away from it.” (Dale E. Ho, “Dodging a Bullet: McDonald v. City of Chicago and the Limits of Progessive Originalism,” William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, 12/01/2010)

Ho Has Attacked And Denigrated The Institutions Of The Senate, The Electoral College, And Even The Supreme Court, Whose Precedents He’d Be Expected To Uphold If He Were Confirmed To The Bench

DALE HO: “We had obviously lots of practices that are anti-democratic, that entrench in some ways minority rule in this country, and I’m talking about things like, you know, the Senate, the Electoral College, and the maldistribution of political power that results from those institutions.” (“Video Shows Biden Judicial Nominee Dale Ho Attacking Senate, Electoral College: They Are ‘Anti-Democratic,’” Fox News, 12/15/2021)

Ho also retweeted a liberal professor proclaiming that a tweet from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) discussing “rank democracy” meant “if we can’t maintain minoritarian rule despite the electoral college, Senate malapportionment, extreme partisan gerrymandering, and strict conditions on voting, then we’ll rely on a 6-3 SCOTUS to block an elected Democratic agenda.” (Dale Ho, @dale_e_ho, Twitter, 10/08/2020)

• SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): “[I]t’s there in the text. It’s what you derisively referred to as Senate mal-apportionment. It’s the principle of equal representation in the Senate…. The fact that you referred to it derisively, along with by the way, denigrating the Electoral College itself, and the Supreme Court of the United States, the Superior Court, the court of last resort to which you’d be answerable if confirmed to this position, is deeply troubling to me. I don’t know how we’re supposed to confirm you to this. This has nothing to do with how you feel about any elected official, me or otherwise. It has everything to do with your open contempt for the Constitution, which I know of no other way of reading this, including that one feature of the Constitution that can’t be amended. How do you serve as a federal judge when you’ve denigrated the Supreme Court … and other essential features of the Constitution? How do you defend that? How do you stand here and say that you can be supported in being appointed to an office whose job it is to interpret that document and to adhere to those precedents made by the Supreme Court that you’ve derided?” (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, 12/01/2021)

Ho Is A Progressive Activist Who Has Described Himself As A ‘Wild-Eyed Leftist,’ Intemperately Attacked Multiple Members Of The Judiciary Committee On Twitter, And Discussed How He’s Been Able ‘Find Tremendous Sense Of Purpose’ In His Activism, Fueled At Times By Anger At Conservatives

DALE HO: “… so we’re not talking about—sort of—wild-eyed leftists like me … who are accused sometimes of seeing racial discrimination everywhere we look.” (Current’s “Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer,” 4/29/2013)

DALE HO: “In these dark times, I’ve been fortunate to find tremendous sense of purpose in my work as a civil rights lawyer. But as a colleague of mine asked me over lunch recently, ‘Dale, do you do this because you want to help people or because you hate conservatives?’ What he was getting at is that anger can in fact, be a tremendous source of power. For me, righteous indignation can provide a sense of moral clarity and motivate the long hours needed to get the work done. But it’s only a short term burst. It’s not sustaining in the long run.” (“Cruz Hammers Biden Judicial Nominee Who Described Himself As ‘Wild-Eyed Leftist’,” Fox News, 12/01/2021)

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): “[G]iven your commitment to progressive politics and your apparent anger at conservatives, how can parties who come before you be confident that you’ll be a fair and impartial judge?” (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, 12/01/2021)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): “I would note … that you have tweeted attacks at multiple members of this committee, including Senator Lee, Senator Cotton, Senator Blackburn, Senator Cornyn. And far from being intemperate statements when you were a teenager, and most of these tweets occurred … the last about 18 months, you have engaged in partisan attacks on multiple members of this committee.” (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, 12/01/2021)

Ho Is Strongly Supported By The Radical Far-Left Dark Money Group Demand Justice, One Of The Loudest Radical Groups Advocating For A Norm-Shattering And Noxious Power Grab Through Packing The Supreme Court

DEMAND JUSTICE: “Dale Ho is democracy’s lawyer -- and now he’s nominated to be a federal judge. The director of the ACLU’s voting rights project has just been nominated to be a judge. Thank you [President Biden] and [Sen. Schumer] for this phenomenal nominee.” (Demand Justice, @WeDemandJustice, Twitter, 9/30/2021)

“The executive director of Demand Justice is Brian Fallon, a former top aide to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who later advised Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016.” (“Millions From Anonymous Donors To Influence Kavanaugh Fight,” The Associated Press, 7/12/2018)

• “‘The lack of fire, the lack of urgency, is a tell that [Dianne Feinstein is] not going to be the person to take a bare-knuckle approach in the trenches,’ said Brian Fallon, a former senior Senate aide who founded the group Demand Justice to push the party left on the judiciary.” (“Progressives Target Dianne Feinstein As Head Of Senate Judiciary Committee,” San Francisco Chronicle, 7/06/2020)

DEMAND JUSTICE: “With a 6-3 Republican supermajority, the Supreme Court is too biased in favor of special interests and Republican politicians. Our democracy is at risk from decisions that suppress the right to vote. Adding four seats is the solution—and we need your help to get it done. Congress can change the number of justices on the Court at any time with a simple piece of legislation, and it has done so many times throughout American history. Now, top Democrats have introduced a bill to add seats and restore balance, and more than 40 members of Congress have signed on in support.” (Demand Justice, Accessed 1/31/2022)

BRIAN FALLON: “At Demand Justice, we strongly believe that reforming the court — especially by expanding it — is the cornerstone for re-building American democracy… We are thrilled to work in coalition with the team at Pack the Courts to undo the politicization of the judiciary.” (“Progressive Activists Push 2020 Dems To Pack Supreme Court,” Politico, 2/25/2019)

• FALLON: “We need reform of the third branch of the government. We must look at expanding the number of justices on the Court to ensure a future Democratic president has the chance to fill two or more seats on the Court.” (Brian Fallon, Remarks, 12/05/2018)

Fallon endorsed legislation introduced by far left Democrats, including Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), to pack the Supreme Court. (Sen. Markey, Press Release, 4/15/2022)

• FALLON: “Democrats are officially done being complacent about the courts…. Our goal is to build consensus for this plan as quickly as we have seen Democrats align around the need to abolish the Senate filibuster. Expanding the Court is every bit as necessary for restoring our democracy.”  (Sen. Markey, Press Release, 4/15/2022)

David Crane, Biden’s Nominee For Under Secretary Of Energy For Infrastructure, Is A Self-Described ‘Climate Activist,’ Who Has Long Supported Proposals That Increase Energy Prices And Pressuring Companies To Adopt ESG Policies And Would Be Another Loyal Lieutenant In The Obama-Biden War On Coal

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY), Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member: “If confirmed, Mr. Crane would oversee more than $70 billion in appropriations. He would have authority to loan another $250 billion. It's an extraordinary amount of money. In the wrong hands, it could create an enormous liability for American families…. He's an activist who called for bullying other companies that do not subscribe to his self-described ‘green dream.’ That dream is an ideology that would kill natural gas and coal jobs. He's in lockstep with President Biden's goal of shutting coal plants across America. So I must continue to oppose Mr. Crane's nomination and urge my colleagues to vote no.” (U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Markup, 5/17/2023)

Crane Refers To Himself As ‘A Climate Activist,’ Called On Democrats To Nominate A Presidential Candidate Who Would Make Climate Activism ‘The Only Thing They Will Prioritize,’ And Declared California Our Solar ‘Head Of State’ And ‘Our Beacon Of Light’ On Climate Policy

DAVID CRANE: “As a climate activist, I think it's great to show these big incumbent companies that there is a way to get value for their green innovative businesses.” (Harvard Business School’s “Climate Rising” Podcast, 4/08/2021)

• CRANE: “There’s been criticism about ‘oh they don’t want us to fly in airplanes,’ ‘they don’t want us to eat meat.’ You know, those are two significant carbon emitters and it’s not impossible to get rid of carbon from those two sources but that’s further down the road.” (Fox Business Network, 2/20/2019)

DAVID CRANE: “[W]e need to get a climate change champion to run for president in 2020.” (David Crane, “My Three Wishes For America,” GreenBiz, 8/01/2017)

• CRANE: “Sure, Obama, Clinton and Sanders were right as rain on environmental issues and perfectly ‘on message’ all the time on climate, but each had a lot of other priorities as well. In the face of public indifference and the media's failure to grasp the transcendent importance of our issue relative to others, global warming just gets lost in the noise. That is why we need a presidential candidate for whom climate change not only registers in their brain but burns in their heart — a candidate who believes so passionately in saving the planet that it pretty much is their only thing — the only thing they want to talk about; the only thing they will prioritize, the only thing that they are focused on. We need a candidate who is like Steve Forbes talking about flat tax or Forrest Gump's friend Bubba talking about shrimp.” (David Crane, “My Three Wishes For America,” GreenBiz, 8/01/2017)

DAVID CRANE: “[E]ven if Washington descends into climate darkness, California stands tall as our beacon of light and we will continue to be able to look to the West for our solar ‘head of state.’” (David Crane, “Let's Give Trump A Chance On Climate,” GreenBiz, 11/14/2016)

Crane Has Been Calling For A Cap-And-Tax System On Carbon Dioxide Emissions Since At Least 2007, A Policy That Would Clearly Increase Energy Prices

DAVID CRANE, 2007: “Congress needs to act now to change our ways. Lawmakers should regulate CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions by introducing a federal cap-and-trade system, which would put a cap and a market price on CO2 emissions.” (David Crane, Op-Ed, “We’re Carboholics. Make Us Stop.,” The Washington Post, 10/14/2007)

• DAVID CRANE, 2020: “Hard to believe it’s been 13 years since I wrote this for the Washington Post. Happy to hear that FERC is finally considering putting a price on carbon. Long overdue.” (David Crane, @DCCleanEnergy, Twitter, 6/24/2020)

Crane Is A Proponent Of ESG Investing, Saying, ‘We’re Most Focused On The “E”’

DAVID CRANE: “First of all, I’m not apologetic about this, but when it comes to ESG, my letters E, S, and G are different sizes. Good governance is a baseline, and it’s important that you always have the social component, but we’re most focused on the ‘E’. ‘E’ stands for Climate for us!” (“David Crane (Climate Real Impact Solutions SPAC),” Climate Tech VC Website, 10/26/2020)

Crane Has Called For ‘Muscular’ Activism Against Companies That Are ‘Laggards’ On Climate Activism, And Once Wrote That His ‘Green Dream’ Would Be To Force The World’s 100 Largest Companies To Be ‘100 Percent Carbon-Free’ In 8 Years, So That They Can ‘Compel Society Down The Road Towards The Clean Energy Economy’

DAVID CRANE: “Of course, there will be laggards. There always are — companies, or even whole industries, that just don't seem to care or can't be bothered. Management with other priorities, or boards of directors that just don't get it. This is where climate change advocates need to focus their energy. These companies will need to be ‘encouraged.’ Environmental groups need to shine a light on those companies that drag their feet. ‘Name and shame’ environmental activism against the laggards may need to become more muscular — civil protests or even corporate proxy contests aimed at unseating the particularly egregious.” (David Crane, “Doing Business In A Post-Paris World,” GreenBiz, 1/19/2016)

DAVID CRANE: “I was privileged to participate last week in the Corporate Eco Forum's annual confab … This year's challenge to each participant was to ask themselves ‘What if?’ I used my time there to answer the question: ‘If I could be anything and do anything I want right now to win the fight against climate change, what would it be?’ My answer: I would have the world's 100 largest corporations put me in charge of their collective energy procurement worldwide, with the mandate to make them all 100 percent carbon-free by 2025.” (David Crane, “My Clean-Energy Green Dream,” GreenBiz, 6/26/2017)

• CRANE: “My thinking was that with the power to exercise their collective purchasing power, the changes we would bring about in the way energy is produced, transported, financed and consumed would be transformative. And in this political environment, the catalyst to transform the way we live can only be demand-driven. The world's biggest companies, acting together, have a level of demand that can compel society down the road towards the clean energy economy.” (David Crane, “My Clean-Energy Green Dream,” GreenBiz, 6/26/2017)

• CRANE: “As this is my green dream, I am not only going to assume that the world's 100 biggest companies, who represent roughly $15 trillion in market cap, will entrust in me their energy budget for the next eight years, but also that they are literally begging me to do it. They consider me the Mother Teresa of clean energy and, as such, I have the clout to dictate the terms of my procurement engagement.” (David Crane, “My Clean-Energy Green Dream,” GreenBiz, 6/26/2017)

• CRANE: “While this green dream of mine is innately collaborative, it is not naive. There will be laggards and recalcitrants…. If one protagonist in a competitive sector is ‘all in’ — doing the right thing by the planet — and the other is not, I want to let the customers they compete for know about it … I will have to beg the CFOs' indulgence to play hardball with the financial institutions with which they do business. My message to the banks is that if you want to do business with the Global 100, you need to help finance our clean-energy build-out.” (David Crane, “My Clean-Energy Green Dream,” GreenBiz, 6/26/2017)

Crane Is Enthusiastic About A War On Coal, Applauding Banks Declaring They Wouldn’t Loan To The Coal Industry, Calling For ‘Denying The Biggest Carbon-Emitting Industry The Oxygen It Needs To Survive’

DAVID CRANE: “Consider the announcements made over the past few years by several major financial institutions that, henceforth, they will not lend to the coal industry. These announcements are laudatory and could have a huge potential climate impact by denying the biggest carbon-emitting industry the oxygen it needs to survive.” (David Crane, “Setting Corporate Carbon Goals And Meaning It,” GreenBiz, 9/07/2016)

DAVID CRANE: “The natural gas industry needs to launch its own Apollo program to figure out how to combust natural gas without the carbon emissions. The power companies that rely heavily on coal-fired generation — well, they need to figure out something else to do with their soon-to-be-stranded coal assets.” (David Crane, “For Peabody And SunEdison, Requiem And Rebirth,” GreenBiz, 4/11/2016)