Upholding a Fair, Unbiased Judicial System
A fair and independent judiciary is a cornerstone of our democracy. Filling vacancies in our nation’s courts with men and women who apply the law as written, rather than based on their own political ideologies, has been a priority in the Senate. According to the Constitution, it’s the role of the president to nominate individuals to the federal bench, and the Senate has the role of “advice and consent.” After a thorough confirmation process, the Senate votes to confirm the nomination. The Senate will soon confirm the 200th judge nominated by President Trump. This number includes two Supreme Court justices.
This record-breaking number of confirmations is especially notable since the judges we’ve confirmed will serve lifetime appointments to the federal judiciary. The court decisions they make can have a lasting impact on the direction of our country. As a co-equal branch of government, the judiciary must remain impartial and non-political in order to do its job. The judges that President Trump has nominated, and the Senate has confirmed, understand this. It is not the role of the courts to create legislation—it is their role to interpret the laws passed by Congress. The judges that have been confirmed over the past three years provide balance to the courts so they can continue to provide due process of law to all Americans.
We’re also focused on confirming judges who understand the separation of powers doctrine, especially as it comes to executive overreach. Under the previous administration, we saw an unprecedented expansion of the administrative state. Overreach by executive agencies leads to regulatory expansion that results in the federal government involving itself in nearly every facet of our lives today. This expansion has been permitted, in part, to U.S. courts relying on the flawed Chevron doctrine to show great deference to agency interpretation of the laws passed by Congress. As a result, agencies have been able to broadly interpret laws in a way that has allowed them to expand their regulatory authority far beyond what Congress ever intended.
Fortunately, U.S. judges are beginning to question the Chevron doctrine and its impact on the separation of powers doctrine relied on by our Founding Fathers and affirmed in the U.S. Constitution. This includes many of the judges we have confirmed over the past three-and-a-half years.
When writing the Constitution, our Founding Fathers envisioned a judicial system that is fair and impartial. The decisions made by federal judges are long-lasting—they should not be influenced by personal feelings or loyalty to a political party. With the Constitution as our guide, we’ve confirmed judges who we believe fit the mold described by our nation’s founders.
As our country continues to face immediate concerns like COVID-19 and calls for police reform, the Senate will work toward solutions that make us a stronger, more unified nation. We’ll also continue to focus on what we want our country to look like for future generations. A major part of that vision is making sure our courts provide impartiality and fairness so that any American who finds themselves in front of a federal judge knows that decisions are not being made based on personal beliefs or politics.
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