WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who sits on the Judiciary Committee, spoke with reporters on Thursday afternoon about his intentions over the next few weeks in approving judges. But it was his comments about the Supreme Court that the Justices might feel hits too close to home.
President Joe Biden has spent the past few years working to fill vacancies on the federal courts, reaching 97 as of this week. The Senate will cast their approval for the 100th judge in the coming weeks. Former President Donald Trump made 245 appointments in four years.
"We need to focus on appointing really qualified people," said Blumenthal. "It's going to be a legacy for the administration and all of us who serve on the Judiciary particularly."
He went on to say that the judges he's seen appointed are some of the most qualified and diverse appointees he's ever seen, even looking at Barack Obama's administration.
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"There's an emphasis on diversity here as well as judgments, life experience, expertise in the court. It's really extraordinary," he said, adding that he hopes folks don't simply focus on the raw numbers.
Statistics from PBS at the end of the year showed that 74 percent of the Biden judicial nominees are women and 46 percent are women of color. Trump only nominated 24 percent women and only 16 percent were people of color, Pew Research said.
Blumenthal also said that he's "hopeful" that Biden would be able to nominate more than one Supreme Court Justice in his four-year term. He remarked that Biden has already "made history" with the appointee of the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
"I'm thinking seriously about what we need to do to change the court. Change the — do some structural reform," he continued. "Obviously, it's an uphill fight. But the court is destroying its own credibility."
When Raw Story asked him about whether Americans are continuing to be angry over the elimination of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court and whether there is the public will to get reforms passed. Blumenthal said he thinks "there very-well may be."
"I think there will be again once the court starts issuing decisions," he said, agreeing that currently, it seems like the "calm before the storm." Particularly, he said, if the court continues on its "self-destructive" behavior.
With additional reporting by Matt Laslo
