Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06) on Monday addressed the passing of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and his thoughts regarding the resulting vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Palmer is the chair of the Republican Policy Committee, which makes him the fifth highest ranking leader among Republicans in the United States House of Representatives.
On Monday morning, he appeared on Talk 99.5’s “Matt & Aunie Show.”
“She was a remarkable jurist,” Palmer said of Ginsburg at the beginning of the interview. “She was an iconic and historic figure on the Court.”
Co-host Matt Murphy subsequently asked Palmer if he believes there should be hearings and a confirmation vote by the U.S. Senate before November 3’s general election for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. Trump reportedly plans to put forward a nomination later this week. The nominee will be a female, the president has previewed.
“I do,” Palmer responded.
“Elections do have consequences,” he outlined. “I think that one of the reasons that Donald Trump was elected president was because he put out a list of people that he said if elected he would choose from for his nominees to the Supreme Court. I think that the Republicans who were elected to the Senate ran on this platform, as well — that we needed to hold the Senate so that we could get conservative, constitutionalist jurists on the courts. And I think Mitch McConnell and the Republicans have proven themselves worthy of that task.”
“I think that this is an example of elections have consequences,” Palmer reiterated later in the interview. “The president was elected — and I think one of the reasons that he defeated Hillary is because of that opening [in 2016] on the Supreme Court. They didn’t want Hillary to fill that spot.”
Murphy stressed that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is perfectly within his rights to dictate the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominees, just as past majority leaders have. Senators elect their leaders to do just this, Murphy explained, and ultimately voters will decide at the ballot box if they like how Republicans are handling the vacancy.
Palmer said McConnell’s handling of judicial confirmations has shown “some serious backbone.”
The Central Alabama congressman warned of additional, historic stakes in November’s general election.
“The thing about this is you hear the Democrats talk about what they’re going to do [if] Donald Trump is defeated and they get control of the Senate,” Palmer remarked. “They’re going to going to do away with the filibuster rule. They have literally said they’re going to pack the Court — they’re going to add six justices. They’re going to make Washington, D.C., a state, they’re going to make Puerto Rico a state. They’re planning to have a complete takeover of the federal government. And it will fundamentally change America for the rest of our lives. I don’t think we would ever see the country like it was.”
“So, I think that the president must make a nomination. I think the Senate, while we have a majority, must confirm that nominee,” he continued.
Speaking about the importance of filling the vacancy ahead of November 3, Palmer said the Supreme Court might need to rule in the case of disputed election results or if there are issues regarding the Electoral College. He advised that SCOTUS could be split 4-4, saying, “I don’t think we can count on Chief Justice Roberts.” Ensuring there is an odd number of justices, then, is key, he argued.
Palmer subsequently predicted that confirming Trump’s Supreme Court nominee would be a winning political issue for Senate Republicans with the voters.
In the interview, Palmer also referenced his recent letter to U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr requesting an advisory opinion on whether Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “committed a criminal act by destroying an official copy” of President Donald Trump’s 2020 State of the Union speech on February 4.
This came after U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Pelosi threatened that House Democrats will impeach Trump again if he nominates someone to the Supreme Court this year.
“You’ve got all these threats out there,” Palmer decried. “Pelosi’s threatening to impeach the president again. For what? Listen, I believe she committed a felony. She shouldn’t even be there (be speaker). And then you’ve got these people threatening to burn down the Capitol. I think that’s an optic that the American people might not appreciate.”
Palmer emphasized, “This Supreme Court opening could be the most consequential in our lifetimes. … I cannot overestimate the importance of this.”
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Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
