Demand Justice Statement on Vice President Biden’s Comments on the Supreme Court

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 05, 2019

CONTACT: [email protected]

DEMAND JUSTICE STATEMENT ON VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN’S COMMENTS ON THE SUPREME COURT

WASHINGTON, DC—Demand Justice Executive Director Brian Fallon released the following statement Friday in response to Vice President Joe Biden saying he is opposed to reforming the Supreme Court in any way and that he may renominate Merrick Garland, who would be 68 years old in 2021:

“Vice President Biden stands basically alone in the 25-person Democratic field in accepting the status quo of a Supreme Court hijacked by Donald Trump. Nearly every other candidate is at least open to either adding seats or imposing term limits on the Court, but Biden apparently opposes both.

“Mitch McConnell changed the rules of the game when he blocked Merrick Garland’s appointment for the Court in 2016, but Vice President Biden seems to have learned no lessons from that experience. Vice President Biden says Democrats should have fought against McConnell harder but Biden omits the fact that he was the Vice President at the time. If there was a way to force McConnell’s hand in 2016, why didn’t Biden do so then?

“Now Vice President Biden says if elected, he would be open to renominating Garland for the Court. Garland is a fine judge and deserved to be confirmed to the Court in 2016, but by 2021, he will be 68 years old. Renominating him, while Donald Trump continues to stock the federal bench with young conservatives, would be another sign of how Democrats are utterly outmatched on this issue.

“Biden’s comments reflect an anachronistic approach to the Supreme Court that simply won’t do in 2020.”

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