During his campaign, President Biden assured the American people that he would do whatever he could to unite the country. In today's uncertain times, that promise is even more poignant. Biden missed a major opportunity to bring the country together when he made his pick to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court. As Republican Senator Lindsey Graham explained, President Biden had the option to replace Justice Breyer with someone from his own shortlist who had the potential to receive true bipartisan support, District Court Judge Michelle Childs:
“Here’s the point: I was willing to get probably double-digit Republican support for somebody that would have been in the liberal camp from my state,” he added, referring to Childs. “So they made a political decision to reject bipartisanship and go another way.”
He said Biden “can pick anybody he wants and I can vote any way I want.”
Instead, President Biden picked D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the darling of leftist "dark money" groups like Demand Justice.
Reminder:
— JCN (@judicialnetwork) March 6, 2022
With his pick of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden is paying back the liberal Arabella Advisors dark money network that spent over one billion dollars to help elect him and Senate Democrats.pic.twitter.com/Ivh3d2DBNZ
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell remarked after meeting with Judge Jackson last week:
“This is also a moment when the far left has declared open season on the very concept of judicial independence itself. . .
[C]uriously, the same radicals who want to turn Democrats into the party of court-packing also badly wanted Judge Jackson for this vacancy. It’s a matter of record that this nominee was the anointed favorite of these fringe groups. At this time last year they were already spending dark money to raise her profile.
“So I intend to explore why groups that are waging political war against the Court as an institution decided Judge Jackson was their special favorite.
Democrats have argued that Judge Jackson should be easily confirmed because of her prior Senate confirmation history. Republican Senator John Cornyn pointed out that the Supreme Court is a whole different ball game:
Republicans on Tuesday defended Graham’s change of opinion, arguing the stakes for a Supreme Court confirmation vote are much higher that a nominee to the D.C. Circuit.
“I don’t think voting for a circuit nominee guarantees a vote for the Supreme Court. I think people view that as different. Circuit court has to follow Supreme Court precedent, a Supreme Court judge does not,” said Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), a senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee.
By bowing to dark money interests with his Supreme Court pick, President Biden missed yet another opportunity to bring the country together.