Hello it's the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕
Drenched by a flood of stories about right-wing Supreme Court justices partaking in episodes of various unethical conduct, Senate Democrats had no choice but to … gesture vaguely in the direction of oversight.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week really started out with a bang, as members were faced not with Chief Justice John Roberts — who had flatly rejected Chair Dick Durbin's (D-IL) invitation — but with a panel of (I'm sure very nice) stodgy ethics and law experts.
The exercise was downright soporific. Republicans performed the greatest grievance hits — Clarence Thomas, but circa 1991, Robert Bork, etc. etc. — while Democrats tepidly suggested that all other levels of the judiciary do bind themselves to an ethics code, and maybe perhaps perchance the Supreme Court should start thinking about having one too.
It was quite the juxtaposition: Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) mocking Democrats for being unable to stomach some Court losses — losing a constitutional right just being another day at the racetrack — beside one of the most emotional moments from a Senate Democrat, when Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) got worked up about a witness criticizing the Department of Agriculture.
An alien descending upon the hearing would have concluded that Republicans had been grievously wronged, not that they had been gifted a Supreme Court supermajority that will likely endure for decades.
Some of this is practical: There are no easy options to reform the Court at this point. Democrats would have to expand the Court or limit its jurisdiction, both of which are massive changes (proponents of these measures would argue that the Court is so thoroughly rotted and all-powerful that such changes meet the moment).
Some of it is defense: Democrats are worried that as campaign season heats up, they may need Republicans to help get some of their nominees over the line and are wary of pissing them off (though the same dynamics that will make vulnerable Democrats less likely to keep in line would also, logically, keep Republicans from wanting to help out the opposition party).
Some of it is characterological: Even now, after Donald Trump and Jan. 6 and all the rest, Democrats still get squeamish about doing anything that can be seen as a partisan attack, about getting down in the mud and fighting back. When I asked many of the members of this committee about an idea circulating around Senate policy wonks on Twitter, that they may be able to appoint a proxy for the indefinitely absent Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and push through subpoenas to haul the justices' asses before their committee, I got a mix of blank stares and preemptive headshakes.
We have now witnessed, in multiple elections, the energy this Court can unlock, a dynamic which has benefited Democrats so far. But they still seem utterly bamboozled about how to translate that activation into any semblance of a political strategy, and far too polite to even echo the rage and pain of their constituents.
More on other news below. Let's dig in.
Share your views...
0 Respones to "The Weekender: But The Ratings!"
Post a Comment