Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy harshly criticized President Biden’s judicial nominees during a Wednesday morning interview on Fox News.
Kennedy appeared on “America’s Newsroom” to discuss the controversy surrounding 89-year-old Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s absence from the Senate Judiciary Committee due to a shingles infection. (RELATED: Sen. John Kennedy Stumps Another Biden Nominee With Basic Legal Question)
.@SenJohnKennedy: “If you just go look at the hearings of these [judicial] nominees, you will see – they either got their law license at Costco or they didn’t pay attention in class.” pic.twitter.com/9PK5sV6euF
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 19, 2023
“But Senator Durbin, he is my friend, but he – he is running the judiciary, but he is worried about these radical folks that President Biden has nominated. And if you just go look at the hearings of these nominees, you will see that they – that they either got their law license at Costco or they didn’t pay attention in class. They don’t understand the Constitution. They don’t even know what’s in it. And if they do, they have demonstrated records as activists. They want to rewrite the Constitution every other Thursday to advance a social and economic agenda that the voters have not accepted,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy, a UVA and Oxford educated attorney, frequently asks judicial nominees basic legal questions at confirmation hearings to test their knowledge.
Most notably, Kennedy stumped a Biden’s nominee about basic constitutional articles in a January confirmation hearing. He asked Spokane County Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren about “what Article 5 of the Constitution does.” She replied that it was “not coming to mind at the moment.” Kennedy followed up with a question about Article 2 of the Constitution. “Neither is Article 2,” Bkelkengren conceded.
A similar incident happened in March when Kennedy asked judicial nominee S. Kato Crews about Brady motions during a confirmation hearing. “Do you know what a Brady motion is?,” Kennedy asked. “Senator, in my time on the bench I have not had occasion to address that, so it’s not coming to mind at the moment what a Brady motion is,” Crews responded.
With Feinstein absent from proceedings, Democrats will be unable to advance President Biden’s judicial nominees through the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans blocked a request from Democrats on Tuesday to temporarily replace Feinstein on the committee, a measure that requires 60 votes or unanimous consent to pass.
Multiple Democrats have publicly called on Feinstein to resign because of her extended absence from the senate. Feinstein announced in February she is not running for reelection in 2024 after California Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter launched campaigns in January for her seat.