JONATHAN TURLEY: Biden’s veto of Judges Act makes him a craven partisan, not a Framer

In the era of advocacy journalismApril Ryan has been a standout for a long time. Ryan has routinely engaged in scathing criticism at White House press conferences during the Trump administration and has been outspoken in his opposition to anything Republican or conservative. Now, the MSNBC contributor and Grio White House correspondent has declared that President Joe Biden was “the standard bearer of what the Founding Fathers set forth.” reason? His much criticized and party veto of the Law on Judges. While even staunch Biden allies like Delaware Sen. Chris Coons criticized the president for vetoing a much-needed, bipartisan measure to add new justices, Ryan called it the work of a modern-day George Washington.

HOUSE APPROVED BILLS UNDER BIDEN’S VETO THREAT THAT WOULD GIVE TRUMP MORE APPOINTMENTS TO FEDERAL JUDGES

When the MSNBC host noted that the Judiciary Act “had bipartisan support” and was needed to relieve overburdened courts, Ryan responded by saying the obstructionist partisan move was exactly what the Framers would have wanted:

“It’s simple. This President Joe Biden didn’t want to give President-elect Donald Trump a chance to bring more conservatism to our courts, bottom line. I mean, you have so many people talking about how loaded everything is right now.. The White House will on January 20 being Republican, Congress and the Supreme Court are Republican-leaning.

…He is the standard-bearer of what the founding fathers set forth. He wants to make sure everything is going well. And think about this, even though it wasn’t a federal judicial function, think about what happened with Merrick Garland. Think about the fact that Merrick Garland never got the chance to even have interviews with some senators because they refused, they didn’t want a Democrat on the US Supreme Court. In a way, that’s it. This is an attempt to hold the line, to once again ensure fairness and equal play and checks and balances.”

Ryan mixes the reasons for avoiding adding conservative justices in retaliation for past votes as a noble cause that goes back to the founding.

Of course, as explained in my book “An irreplaceable right,” some like John Adams used the Alien and Sedition Acts to arrest their political opponents, but few cite it as the gold standard for the Founders. Ironically, I previously drawn comparisons between Biden and Adams.

By vetoing that act, Biden once again rejected any claim that he is a president who can put the public interest before petty political interests.

Other founders like Washington did not even support the creation of political parties, let alone support crude partisan moves by the president. Indeed, Biden has become exactly what Washington wanted to avoid by talking about this political partisanship:

“… it may from time to time respond to the people’s aims… by means of which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men will be able to undermine the power of the people and appropriate the reins of government to themselves…”

Biden’s move is a shame. Our courts are overcrowded with files that leave parties without any solution for years. In 2004, the number of cases in the district court that were pending for more than three years was 18,280. This year there are 81,617 of them.

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If justice delayed is justice denied, our court system becomes a cesspool of injustice, and litigants go years without verdicts or relief.

Every responsible and independent group in the field has supported this bill as essential to the support and maintenance of our legal system. The White House did not oppose the bill until Democrats lost the election. (Some Republicans also withheld their support until after the election).

Before the election, both Democrats and Republicans supported the bill in a very rare moment of bipartisanship. Biden then vetoed it because he didn’t want a Republican to appoint new judges (although new judgeships would be added over a 10-year period).

By vetoing that act, Biden once again rejected any claim that he is a president who can put the public interest before petty political interests. It ends his presidency on a cynical, obstructionist note.

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Nevertheless, Ryan and the other on the far left they applaud that act as what they want to see in a president.

It’s one thing to dismiss any sense of integrity or accountability, but do us a favor: leave the founders out of it.

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