One of the most important duties of the United States Senate is to provide advice and consent and ultimately decide whether to confirm a Supreme Court justice. Our judicial branch is vitally important to our federal government’s ecosystem – our judges and justices must be impartial and stalwart interpreters of the United States Constitution.
Under the Obama-Biden Administration, the Democrat-led Senate confirmed activist judges who often chose to legislate from the bench rather than follow the plain language of our Constitution. Activist judges have stopped President Trump from ending DACA and blocked his TikTok ban. In doing so, they have undermined President Donald Trump’s ability to govern and keep Americans safe.
However, something important happened during Obama’s second term. The public put the control of the U.S. Senate into Republican hands – with a rightful expectation that the Senate would stand up to the ruinous policies of the Obama-Biden Administration – including the appointment of further activist judges. In 2016, Leader McConnell responded as he should, by not filling Justice Antonin Scalia’s open seat. He fulfilled the expectations of American voters who installed a Republican majority as a bulwark against further activism. Again in 2018, on the heels of the Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearing, the American public expanded the Republican majority – broadening the mandate to put constitutionalist judges on the federal bench. President Trump has been transparent in letting the American people vet his candidates for the Supreme Court before his elections. This has given our electorate confidence in their vote that they will get justices of known quality who will interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. Joe Biden has refused to release his list – rather the Democrats indicate they want to pack the Supreme Court by adding four more seats — seats that they will fill with a single majority vote. This will forever shift the makeup and philosophy of the court to make it an alternative legislative body, rather than a strict interpreter of the law.
And President Trump has followed through on his promise to nominate strictly constitutionalists to the federal bench as a top priority. In fact, since being sworn into office, President Trump and the Republican-led Senate have confirmed over 200 federal judges – that’s nearly one-fourth of all active federal district, circuit judges and Supreme Court justices. This is quite an accomplishment, and it will have a long-lasting, positive impact on our future.
We need more good constitutionalist justices like Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. That’s why I wholeheartedly and strongly support President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
During her acceptance speech at the White House, Judge Barrett made several points that stuck with me. First, she shared how Justice Scalia’s lessons during her time as a clerk remain with her today. She stated, “a judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.”
I couldn’t agree more. Judges and justices on the federal bench should be interpreters of the United States Constitution, not legislators, who insert personal viewpoints or bow to external pressures as they fashion their opinions.
Additionally, Judge Barrett spoke about her family and the joy they bring her each and every day. As a proud father of four, this spoke volumes to me. My family is an important inspiration in my life and one of the main reasons why I’m running for the United States Senate.