By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
OPINION: Senate Democrats and the establishment press are celebrating confirmation of Joe Biden’s 100th U.S. District Court nominee, but the lead paragraph in the New York Times report puts this in a perspective which does not bode well for American gun owners.
“President Biden and Democrats, largely stymied by Republicans from enacting their policy agenda,” writes reporter Carl Hulse, “have transformed the Senate into a judicial confirmation factory that has just passed a major milestone in its drive to remake the federal courts, approving the 100th district court nominee since Mr. Biden took office.”
A few lines later, a quote from perennial anti-gun Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) reveals the gravity of Biden’s judicial appointments.
“These judges will affect America long after just about every senator is out of here,” Schumer reportedly said. “It is hugely important. It’s a step-by-step process. It’s hard.”
According to a Democrat news release, “Entire districts have changed composition in these few years. The District of New Jersey now has a majority-women bench. Every seat in the Western District of Washington has been replaced by a Biden nominee, and every one of them is a person of color, including a Taiwanese immigrant and Washington’s first Native American judge.”
But how will these new judges look at issues important to gun owners and the Second Amendment, even in the wake of last year’s Bruen decision by the U.S. Supreme Court? That’s the question facing the gun rights community as the high court could be ready to take on another Second Amendment case—or cases—in the next session beginning in October.
In their self-congratulatory news release about packing the federal courts, Democrats are touting these accomplishments:
- This Senate has confirmed more women to judgeships than under any Republican President’s full time in office, and more women of color than any president.
- This Senate has confirmed more people of color to Circuit Court judgeships than under any other president.
- This Senate has confirmed more Asian and Native women to the federal bench than under any other president.
- This Senate has already tied confirmations under the Obama Administration for most AAPI judicial nominees confirmed.
While this may be impressive to people on the political left, it doesn’t say a thing about what these new judges bring to the courts in terms of judicial and constitutional perspective. Do they agree or disagree with Supreme Court decisions in Heller (2008), McDonald (2010) and Bruen (2022), or will they be inclined to ignore the principles set down on those rulings?
The Washington Times quoted Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“These jurists are bringing balance and impartiality to the courts. Equally as important as the numbers, we are seeing diverse nominees confirmed — in both their professional and demographic backgrounds,” Durbin said. “The confirmations of highly qualified, diverse judges to lifetime appointments on the federal bench is one of this Senate’s great successes.”
But the bottom line is that elections matter, especially for president. It is the president who makes judicial nominations, including to the U.S. Supreme Court. Democrats have scrambled over the past two years to counter the hundreds of vacancies filled by former President Donald Trump, who nominated three Supreme Court justices during his four years in office. Had Hillary Clinton won in 2016, it is a safe bet Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanagh and Neil Gorsuch would not be sitting on the high court today.
The importance to Democrats for filling judicial vacancies came through in the New York Times article, which stated, “Some are urging Democrats to forgo the planned August recess and remain in session to confirm judges, and also to be more aggressive in nominating and confirming district court judges in states with Republican senators. There are more than 40 vacancies without nominees and the potential for dozens more if eligible judges retired.”
What will reverse course is a Republican Senate takeover in 2024, and a Republican presidential victory, which will very likely be a major part of next year’s effort to get gun owners to the polls, where they vote a GOP ticket from top to bottom.
