Judicial Nominations

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, we are in the midst of one of the greatest public health crises in our Nation's history. Over 2 million Americans have been infected by the COVID-19 virus. Over 115,000 Americans have died. Sadly, infections are still trending upward in many States. And what is the response of the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate to this public health crisis? This week, the majority leader, Senator McConnell has scheduled a vote on his family friend and former intern, Justin Walker, to be a judge on the DC Circuit, the second highest court in the land.

Colleagues, let's be honest. You cannot say with a straight face that Justin Walker, a 38-year-old with no practical courtroom experience and a few months' time on the district court bench, is the best person for the job of DC Circuit judge. He is not, and we know it. So why is he getting this nomination? I believe there are two main reasons: because Justin Walker is a protege of Senator McConnell and because he is an outspoken critic of the Affordable Care Act.

Justin Walker has made clear that he is willing to toe the Republican party line of hostility to Obamacare. Before he was confirmed as a district judge last October in a party-line vote, he called the NFIB case that upheld the ACA's constitutionality an ``indefensible decision.'' And in March, while he was a sitting judge, he cracked jokes about his opposition to the ACA at his ceremonial investiture.

These comments apparently put him on the fast-track for a promotion to the DC Circuit. I find it astonishing that Senate Republicans have rubberstamped so many nominees who have written articles or spoken publicly about their hostility to the ACA, nominees like John Bush, Steven Grasz, James Ho, David Porter, Neomi Rao, Mark Norris, Michael Truncale, and Sarah Pitlyk, not to mention Chad Readler, who filed the brief for the Trump Justice Department in the Texas v. U.S. case that called for striking down the entire ACA, including its protections for Americans with preexisting conditions. Chad Readler was nominated to the 6th Circuit within a day of filing that brief.

It is a pattern. And right after the vote on Justin Walker, Senator McConnell wants to vote on yet another nominee with a record of outspoken hostility to the ACA; 5th Circuit nominee Cory Wilson of Mississippi has repeatedly spoken, written, and tweeted criticisms of the ACA. In one of Wilson's newspaper columns, he wrote ``for the sake of the Constitution, I hope the Court strikes down the law.'' In another column, he described the ACA as ``big, intrusive government'' and as ``perverse'' and ``illegitimate.'' And he has tweeted negatively about the ACA more than 30 times.

Justin Walker's and Cory Wilson's public statements clearly show that they have already made up their minds about the Affordable Care Act's merits and its constitutionality. And yet, they have been unwilling to recuse themselves from ACA cases that might come before them if they are confirmed. This is important because the ACA has been under constant attack in the Federal courts. The Republican Party, from President Trump on down, has been obsessed with trying to get the ACA struck down as unconstitutional. There is a case pending before the Supreme Court right now where Republican officeholders and the Trump administration are trying to strike down the entire ACA. That would strip away health insurance and preexisting condition protections for millions of Americans. Even in the middle of a pandemic, the Republican Party is not stopping its attack on the Affordable Care Act.

They failed to overturn the ACA in Congress, of course. But clearly, Republicans are determined to attack it through the courts, no matter how many Americans might lose their coverage and protections. Make no mistake, the nominations of Justin Walker and Cory Wilson are part of the Republican assault on the Affordable Care Act. And the American people are watching.

I oppose these nominees.

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Mr. DURBIN. Rosen), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) are necessarily absent.

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