The Supreme Court is not in crisis when it refuses to reliably and predictably advance Democrats' priorities. The Court is not in crisis when it puts the text of our laws above politics. The Supreme Court is a co-equal branch of government. And it should continue to do its job.'
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, July 10, 2023, U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the Supreme Court:
"Last month, the Supreme Court wrapped up its productive term by deciding some especially consequential decisions in favor of equal protection and executive restraint.
"In response, Washington Democrats offered a fresh example of just how profoundly they misunderstand the Court and its role in our government.
"The President who has flirted with calls for court-packing warned ominously that a co-equal branch was 'not a normal court'.
"The Democratic Leader who threatened Justices by name from the steps of the Court branded it as 'MAGA'.
"And this month, the Judiciary Committee will attempt to force the Court to restructure itself in the name of 'ethics'.
"But for all Democrats' breathless fearmongering, the record of the Supreme Court's latest term tells a very different story. By the numbers, the Court remains as ideologically diverse and unpredictable as even passing students of our Constitution know it was designed to be.
"Nearly half of the cases the Court heard this term produced a unanimous outcome. It ruled overwhelmingly in both directions – striking down union thuggery and declining to stop the Biden Administration's open border policy.
"By contrast, just 9% of cases were decided 6-3 with each of the Republican-appointed Justices in the majority. Let me say that again: the exact margin liberal commentators use to claim that the Supreme Court is irredeemably polarized actually decided fewer than one in ten cases this term!
"This is the institution our colleague from New York likes to call a 'MAGA' Court. What a joke!
"Here's the reality: in case after case, the exceptionally qualified Justices Washington Democrats have spent years vilifying continue to prove their restrained and independent jurisprudence. Justice Barrett was just as likely this term to vote with Justice Kagan as with Justice Thomas.
"Justice Kavanaugh was more likely to vote with Justice Kagan. And the Court's two most conservative Justices – Thomas and Alito – voted together less frequently than the liberal Justices Sotomayor and Jackson.
"The Supreme Court is not in crisis when it refuses to reliably and predictably advance Democrats' priorities. The Court is not in crisis when it puts the text of our laws above politics.
"The Supreme Court is a co-equal branch of government. And it should continue to do its job."
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