In a statement released on Friday, the president of FreedomWorks blasted President Biden’s recently created commission on the U.S. Supreme Court, alleging it to be nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to advance the left’s own partisan court reform agenda.
Early on Friday, Biden signed the “Executive Order on the Establishment of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).” While the commission will not ultimately provide recommendations, as it is fact-finding in nature, many critics have voiced concern over its creation, citing the left’s vocal support of court packing and other radical court reform measures.
Shortly after the order was signed, FreedomWorks, one of the country’s largest and most influential conservative activist organizations, released a statement condemning the administration’s step toward partisan reform.
“President Biden’s Commission,” said FreedomWorks’s President Adam Brandon, “is yet another executive action meant to appease the progressive left.”
“It is telling,” continued Brandon, “that they have decided to launch a commission to fundamentally change our judiciary only after a record number of conservative justices have been appointed to previously open seats. This makes clear that President Biden and the Democratic party seek to change the rules to advance their far-left agenda.”
According to a White House press release, the commission will be comprised of constitutional scholars, retired members of the Federal judiciary and other experienced and knowledgeable individuals. The 36-member commission will be co-chaired by Bob Bauer and Cristina Rodriguez.
“The Commission’s purpose,” expressed the statement, “is to provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform… The topics it will examine include the genesis of the reform debate; the Court’s role in the Constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court; the membership and size of the Court; and the Court’s case selection, rules, and practices.”
Over the past four years, the SCOTUS reform movement has grown significantly as the left was forced to watch as former President Trump successfully nominated three conservative judges to the nation’s highest court. Many on the right agree with FreedomWorks' conclusion that the commission is the first step toward inevitably undemocratic reforms coming down the pike.
For his part, Senate Minority-Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) likewise denounced the commission, saying in a statement, “this faux-academic study of a nonexistent problem fits squarely within liberals' years-long campaign to politicize the Court.”
Going on to conclude, “It's just an attempt to clothe those ongoing attacks in fake legitimacy. It's disappointing that anyone, liberal or conservative, would lend credence to this attack by participating in the commission."
Going forward, the commission will hold public hearings and has 180 days to conclude its investigation.
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