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Floor Speech
An independent judiciary is the crown jewels of our democracy. What do I mean by that? We have the political branches of government.
We have got the White House, popularly elected President through the electoral college. We have got individual Senators elected by various States. And then we have got the House of Representatives. Those are all political bodies.
The judiciary, created by the Constitution--the Supreme Court specifically--was designed to be a check on the abuses of power by the political branches of government and to hold up the Constitution as a supreme law of the land. That was Marbury versus Madison by Chief Justice Marshall in 1804, I believe.
So the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It is not the political branches. And I think in recent years, we have seen every institution in Washington, DC, corrupted in one way or the other by the politicalization of previously revered institutions. And I am talking specifically about the FBI and the use of an opposition research by a Presidential candidate against a successful Presidential candidate, President Trump, and then the FBI director saying his mission in life was to see a special counsel appointed, which it was for 2 years-- Robert Mueller, who found no basis upon which to bring any charges.
Unfortunately, the American people feel like there is a two-tiered system of justice in this country. And that justice system, which has been the crown jewel of our system, has been corrupted by politics. And now our colleagues want to use that same corruption by politics of the independent judiciary and the Supreme Court of the United States.
That may not be their intention. Maybe it is. They want the Supreme Court to become subservient to the Congress, which is anathema to the constitutional order created by the Framers.
This effort lays bare an effort by our Democratic colleagues to control an entire branch of government. There have been bills filed by the Senator from Massachusetts and others to pack the Supreme Court. Fortunately, they haven't gone anywhere. But as our colleague knows and admitted yesterday, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, this is nothing but a political exercise, and it needs to end now.
For these reasons, I would oppose this legislation and withhold my objection so the distinguished ranking member from the Judiciary Committee can speak.
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