10.20.20

Most Americans Support Confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett

Polls Show Majorities Or Pluralities Of Americans Support The Senate Confirming Judge Barrett To The Supreme Court And Also Show A Substantial Majority Opposed To The Extreme Court-Packing Scheme Leading Democrats Are Threatening

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the entire country heard from one of the most impressive nominees for any public office in a long time. Judge Amy Coney Barrett demonstrated that she has the deep legal expertise, dispassionate judicial temperament, and sheer intellectual horsepower that the American people deserve to have on their Supreme Court. Her nomination prompted an outpouring of praise from across academia, the legal profession, and, importantly, the political spectrum…. I look forward to the Judiciary Committee’s vote on Thursday. The full Senate will turn to Judge Barrett’s nomination as soon as it comes out of committee. I’ll be proud to vote to confirm this exceptional jurist.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 10/19/2020)

 

Polls Show Most Americans Support The Senate Confirming Judge Barrett’s Nomination

GALLUP: A “51% majority of Americans support federal judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death last month.” (“51% in U.S. Want Amy Coney Barrett Seated on Supreme Court,” Gallup, 10/20/2020)

MORNING CONSULT: “Bulk of Voters Continue to Back Barrett’s Supreme Court Confirmation … 48% say the Senate should confirm Ginsburg’s replacement; 31% say it should not” (“Bulk of Voters Continue to Back Barrett’s Supreme Court Confirmation.” Morning Consult, 10/14/2020)

THE NEW YORK TIMES/SIENA COLLEGE: “[A] plurality of voters also said that the Senate should vote on Judge Barrett’s nomination before the election.” (The New York Times, 10/20/2020)

 

Meanwhile, A Clear Majority Of Americans Polled Oppose Court-Packing Schemes Being Floated By Democrats

LEADER McCONNELL: “We’ve heard Democrats try to take hostage our very institutions of government to stop this precedent-backed process from moving forward.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 10/19/2020)

THE NEW YORK TIMES/SIENA COLLEGE: “What may prove riskier for Mr. Biden and his party, though, is the issue that he has for weeks sought to avoid staking out a clear position on: adding more justices to the Supreme Court. The poll showed that 58 percent of voters said Democrats should not expand the court beyond nine justices … Opposition was even firmer among independents: Sixty-five percent of them said they were against enlarging the court.” (The New York Times, 10/20/2020)

 

Yet Democrats Keep Suggesting They’re Open To A Radical Scheme To Destroy The Independence Of The Supreme Court

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “We are on the verge of a crisis of confidence in the Supreme Court… We have to take this challenge head on, and everything is on the table to do that.” (“2020 Dems Warm To Expanding Supreme Court,” Politico, 3/18/2020)

REPORTER: “Senator, if Biden wins the election, should he add more Supreme Court justices?”
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “It will be a decision that is -- comes to the Senate. We first have to win the majority before that can happen. But once we win the majority, god willing, everything is on the table.”
REPORTER: “Senator, just to follow up on that, at this time, do you consider abolishing the filibuster.”
SCHUMER: “We first have to win the majority. If we don’t win the majority, these questions are all moot. If we win the majority, everything is on the table.” (Sen. Schumer, Press Conference, 9/20/2020)

  • SCHUMER: “All I’ve said is our first job is to get the majority back and everything is on the table. But it was – everything is on the table. We are going to look at how we can produce change. … Everything is on the table. My Senate Democratic colleagues and candidates know America needs some change and we’re going to figure out the best way to do it.” (Sen. Schumer, Press Conference, 9/22/2020)

CNN’s JAKE TAPPER: “If Barrett is confirmed, and Democrats win back the Senate, would you vote to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court if it came up for a vote? Is that something you would be in favor of?”
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “Well, Jake, like Joe Biden, I'm not a fan of expanding the court. But we have a few weeks here to see whether there are four Republicans who will step back from this precipice. … And then, if we happen to be in the fact pattern where we have a President Biden... we will have to look at what the right steps are to rebalance our federal judiciary.”
TAPPER: “So, your mind is open about adding justices to the Supreme Court, yes or no? Just your mind is open?”
COONS: “Yes.”
TAPPER: “Your mind is open. OK.”
(CNN’s “State of the Union, 10/18/2020)

“Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said she has been ‘talking with people who have different ideas about what we can do — including adding to the court, including having certain circuit court judges cycle in and other ideas’ like term limits. ‘I’m open to those kinds of suggestions,’ she said.” (“Democrats Warn GOP: Don’t Fill A Supreme Court Vacancy In 2020 Or We’ll Retaliate,” NBC News, 8/03/2020)

CNN’s JOHN BERMAN: “Joe Biden was asked last night repeatedly if he wins the election, would he favor adding more justices in the Supreme Court. He would not answer that question. Where do you stand on that?”
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “This is long overdue court reform as far as I’m concerned and I have been thinking about court reform and what we can do regarding the Supreme Court to make it so much more objective. And so, this is not something that a lot of us have not thought about.”
BERMAN: “Joe Biden would not take a position on adding justices to the court last night. What do you feel like you need to here from him on that subject?”
HIRONO: “What I get from Joe Biden is, first and foremost, he has to get elected. Let’s keep our eye on the ball. … So, first and foremost, Joe Biden has to get elected. Kamala Harris has to get elected. Democrats need to get elected to the Senate. We need to take back the Senate so we can address some of the hypothetical things you’re taking about which I have been thinking about for years now.” (CNN, 9/22/2020)

  • HIRONO: “In the meantime we are going to explore every avenue to stop Mitch McConnell from stealing yet another Supreme Court seat.”
    MSNBC’s JOY REID: “And does that include potentially making it clear that Democrats will vote on D.C. statehood and Puerto Rico statehood immediately upon taking power and taking control of the Senate? That expanding the Supreme Court as Neal Katyal and others have said would be a completely legitimate response, saying, okay, there will be 15 seats on the Supreme Court now. That’s going to happen if he goes for this and in getting rid of the filibuster in the next United States Senate?”
    HIRONO: “All of those matters will be on the agenda.” (MSNBC’s “AM Joy,” 9/19/2020)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ), Senate Judiciary Committee Member: “I’m taking nothing off the table.” (The Washington Post, Accessed 9/18/2019)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): “I’m open. … Actually, I mean, we could…. Look, there are a lot of different ways to do it. The number of people on the Supreme Court is not constitutionally constricted. But it’s one of the things that we certainly could talk about.” (The New York Times, Accessed 9/13/2019)

  • MSNBC’s RACHEL MADDOW: “What do you think is within the arsenal of Senate Democrats to try to stop this from happening? I know that Senate minority leader, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has said nothing is off the table if they force through this nomination, if they get it done. What options do you think that you have tactically in order to try to stop them from doing what they want to do?”
    WARREN: “Well, Chuck is right. As he said, everything should be on the table. And we will use everything we’ve got.” (MSNBC, 9/21/2020)

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): “[I]f they act in such a way, they may push it [expanding the Supreme Court] to an inevitability. So they need to be careful about that.” (“Democrats Warn GOP: Don’t Fill A Supreme Court Vacancy In 2020 Or We’ll Retaliate,” NBC News, 8/03/2020)

###
SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Related Issues: Judicial Nominations, Supreme Court, Senate Democrats