Politics
In coming battle over Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Republicans seek other targets
Mitch McConnell brazenly acknowledges Decide Ketanji Brown Jackson is certified to take a seat on the Supreme Court docket.
However that doesn’t imply the Senate minority chief is backing down from her nomination battle. He’s simply directing his hearth elsewhere.
In statements and Senate ground remarks since President Biden introduced his intent to appoint Jackson to succeed retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer final month, McConnell (R-Ky.) has signaled he’s not going to attempt to bludgeon Jackson’s character or expertise forward of her affirmation hearings, that are set to start March 21.
As a substitute, he’s utilizing the nomination as a chance to bash liberal activists championing her trigger.
“I intend to discover why teams which can be waging political warfare towards the court docket as an establishment determined Decide Jackson was their particular favourite,” McConnell mentioned on the Senate ground. “Like I mentioned — I loved assembly the choose. She’s clearly a pointy lawyer with a formidable resume. However with regards to the Supreme Court docket, a core qualification is judicial philosophy.”
The messaging from McConnell highlights the problem his get together is going through because it seeks to muster opposition to Biden’s historic nomination of Jackson, who can be the primary Black girl on the nation’s highest court docket.
A Harvard Legislation Faculty graduate and former Supreme Court docket clerk, Jackson has already been confirmed by the Senate for 3 different posts. In June, she garnered the votes of three Republican senators to affirm her appointment to the influential U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
“It is a very tough candidate for them to someway decelerate” or block, mentioned Rick Tyler, a former spokesman for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential marketing campaign. “The Republicans usually are not going to provide the Democrats the prospect to assert that they’re racists by having a full-throated opposition towards her.”
Republicans appeared to have discovered that lesson after some drew sharp criticism greater than a month in the past after they raised questions on Biden’s long-stated pledge to appoint the primary Black girl to the court docket.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) instructed Biden’s decide can be the beneficiary of affirmative motion.
Cruz known as Biden’s pledge “offensive” and “an insult to Black ladies.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) quipped that he wished “a nominee who is aware of a regulation e-book from a J. Crew catalog.”
Since then, Republicans have backed off such rhetoric and have sought to sharpen their assaults on her judicial philosophy and the progressive teams that help her.
They’re tacking that approach, partially, as a result of Democrats very probably have the votes to get her on the court docket anyway. With the Senate break up basically down the center, if all Democrats again the nominee, as anticipated, Vice President Kamala Harris would break a tie.
Jackson’s affirmation additionally received’t change the ideological steadiness of the court docket, lowering the stakes of the struggle. With November’s midterm elections simply forward, Republicans mentioned they’d somewhat give attention to hammering the Biden administration with criticisms of his international coverage and spiking inflation than make a spectacle out of a Supreme Court docket nominee they’re unlikely to cease.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) instructed reporters this month that, barring “a giant shock,” everybody on Capitol Hill is cognizant of the probably end result.
“We all know that most likely, she’s going to be confirmed,” he mentioned, “even when it’s simply with Democratic votes.”
If anybody understands the dynamics of Supreme Court docket nominations, it’s McConnell. As majority chief, he succeeded in getting three of former President Trump’s nominees onto the excessive court docket regardless of slim Senate majorities.
In 2016, he blocked President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland, then an appeals court docket choose, to fill the seat of Justice Antonin Scalia after his dying. (Unlike in Garland’s case, McConnell met and had his photograph taken with Jackson after her nomination).
Earlier than acknowledging Jackson’s {qualifications} on the Senate ground this month, McConnell warned that her affirmation comes throughout “a second when the far left has declared open season on the very idea of judicial independence.”
“Curiously, the identical radicals who wish to flip Democrats into the get together of court-packing additionally badly wished Decide Jackson for this emptiness,” McConnell mentioned on March 3. “It’s a matter of report that this nominee was the anointed favourite of those fringe teams. Presently final 12 months they had been already spending darkish cash to boost her profile.”
McConnell, who didn’t reply to requests for remark by means of his workplace, has leveled most of his criticism at Demand Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group that spent six figures to spice up Jackson’s nomination to the D.C. Circuit and has been vocally championing her ascent to the Supreme Court docket.
Brian Fallon, the group’s government director, framed McConnell’s technique as proof of the power of Jackson’s nomination.
“Republicans are attempting to go after her by affiliation and make us or our help for her nomination the problem of this affirmation course of,” Fallon mentioned in an interview. “To me, that’s a inform that there’s nothing in her report or with respect to her {qualifications} that they really feel is helpful fodder.”
Demand Justice introduced a $1-million advert marketing campaign after Jackson was nominated by Biden on Feb. 25. Fallon, nonetheless, described the cash as an preliminary funding, noting the group spent $5 million towards Brett M. Kavanaugh and $10 million towards Amy Coney Barrett after they had been nominated to the Supreme Court docket.
“I’d be shocked if our funding this time round ended up needing to be that prime, as a result of I simply suppose that that is a particularly certified individual that has a historical past of garnering bipartisan help,” he mentioned. “We’ll spend what it takes, however no more than mandatory.”
Whereas Republicans are actually avoiding discussing Jackson’s race or gender, Democrats are touting her history-making attributes, partially, to spotlight Biden’s success of a pledge he made in the course of the 2020 presidential main marketing campaign to appoint a Black girl.
“You can’t ignore the historic significance of the first-ever Black girl being placed on the Supreme Court docket,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) mentioned in an interview.
The White Home, in the meantime, has sought to painting Jackson’s help as coming from a variety of curiosity teams. It has taken pains to notice, for instance, that the Fraternal Order of Police and two dozen conservative leaders have issued statements supporting the nomination. Biden want to peel off a number of GOP votes to help Jackson.
If McConnell’s line of assault is any indication of the nomination’s political stakes, they could simply have the ability to win over a number of — although some Democrats are skeptical, particularly since such nominations have in latest a long time turn into more and more partisan affairs.
“We simply must get a extremely certified, historic nominee on the bench and never flip this right into a will they or received’t they offer us two or three votes,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) mentioned. “It will be good to get some Republican votes, however I anticipate zero, and I don’t suppose that may matter within the sweep of historical past.”
Politics
Appeals court rules Texas has right to build razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration: 'Huge win'
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that Texas has the right to build a razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration into the Lone Star State.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the ruling on X, saying President Biden was “wrong to cut our razor wire.”
“We continue adding more razor wire border barrier,” the Republican leader wrote.
Wednesday’s 2-1 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals clears the way for Texas to pursue a lawsuit accusing the Biden administration of trespassing without having to remove the fencing.
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It also reversed a federal judge’s November 2023 refusal to grant a preliminary injunction to Texas as the state resisted federal efforts to remove fencing along the Rio Grande in the vicinity of Eagle Pass, Texas.
Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee during the president-elect’s first term, wrote for Wednesday’s majority that Texas was trying only to safeguard its own property, not “regulate” U.S. Border Patrol, and was likely to succeed in its trespass claims.
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Duncan said the federal government waived its sovereign immunity and rejected its concerns that a ruling by Texas would impede the enforcement of immigration law and undermine the government’s relationship with Mexico.
He said the public interest “supports clear protections for property rights from government intrusion and control” and ensuring that federal immigration law enforcement does not “unnecessarily intrude into the rights of countless property owners.”
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton called the ruling a “huge win for Texas.”
“The Biden Administration has been enjoined from damaging, destroying, or otherwise interfering with Texas’s border fencing,” Paxton wrote in a post on X. “We sued immediately when the federal government was observed destroying fences to let illegal aliens enter, and we’ve fought every step of the way for Texas sovereignty and security.”
The White House has been locked in legal battles with Texas and other states that have tried to deter illegal immigration.
In May, the full 5th Circuit heard arguments in a separate case between Texas and the White House over whether the state can keep a 1,000-foot floating barrier on the Rio Grande.
The appeals court is also reviewing a judge’s order blocking a Texas law that would allow state officials to arrest, prosecute and order the removal of people in the country illegally.
Politics
Rep. Katie Porter obtains temporary restraining order against ex-boyfriend on harassment allegations
U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) secured a temporary restraining order Tuesday against a former boyfriend, saying in dozens of pages of court filings that he had bombarded her, as well as her family and colleagues, with hundreds of messages that she described as “persistent abuse and harassment.”
Porter, 50, alleged in a filing with Orange County Superior Court that her ex-boyfriend Julian Willis, 55, was contacting her and her family with such frequency that she had a “significant fear” for her “personal safety and emotional well-being.”
Judge Stephen T. Hicklin signed a restraining order Tuesday barring Willis from communicating with Porter and her children until a mid-December court hearing. He also barred Willis from communicating about Porter with her current and former colleagues.
In the court filing, Porter said that Willis had been hospitalized twice since late 2022 on involuntary psychiatric holds and had a history of abusing prescription painkillers and other drugs.
She said in a statement to The Times that Willis’ mental health and struggles with addiction seemed to have gotten worse since she asked him in August to move out of her Irvine home. She said she sought the court order after his threats to her family and colleagues “escalated in both their frequency and intensity.”
“I sincerely hope he gets the help he needs,” Porter said.
Willis declined to comment. He will have an opportunity to file a legal response to the temporary restraining order and challenge Porter’s allegations.
Porter is leaving the House of Representatives in January after losing in California’s U.S. Senate primary in March. She has been discussed as a front-runner in the 2026 governor’s race in California after Gov. Gavin Newsom is termed out, but has not said whether she will launch a campaign.
The 53-page court filing, first reported by Politico, included 22 pages of emails, text messages and other communications among Porter, family members and colleagues who had received messages from Willis, as well as messages that Willis sent to Porter’s attorney and to her political mentor Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The filing also included messages between herself and Willis’ siblings as they discussed trying to help him during his psychiatric holds and while he was staying in a sober-living facility.
Porter said that since she ordered Willis to move out, he had sent her more than 1,000 text messages and emails, including texting her 82 times in one 24-hour period in September, and 55 times on Nov. 12 before she blocked his number.
Porter said in the filing that her ex-boyfriend had “already contacted at least three reporters to disseminate false and damaging information” about her and her children, which she said “poses a serious risk to [her] career and personal reputation.”
The filing includes an email that Porter said Willis sent to her attorney late Monday, in which Willis said he had visited Porter’s son at college in Iowa and told him that he would “bring the hammer down on Katie and smash her and her life into a million pieces.”
Another screenshot shows Willis telling Porter’s attorney that he would file a complaint about Porter, who has children ages 12 and 16, with child protective services.
One of Porter’s congressional staff members received a text message from Willis saying he would “punish the f—” out of him if he did not agree to “cooperate” with a New York Times reporter and Willis’ attorneys, according to a screenshot included in the court document.
Willis previously made the news in 2021, when he was arrested after a fight that broke out at a Porter town hall at a park in Irvine.
Times staff writer Christopher Goffard contributed to this report.
Politics
Homan taking death threats against him ‘more seriously’ after Trump officials targeted with violent threats
Incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan reacted to news of death threats against Trump nominees on Wednesday and said he now takes the death threats he has previously received seriously.
“I have not taken this serious up to this point,” Homan told Fox News anchor Gillian Turner on “The Story” on Wednesday, referring to previous death threats made against him and his family.
“Now that I know what’s happened in the last 24 hours. I will take it a little more serious. But look, I’ve been dealing with this. When I was the ICE director in the first administration, I had numerous death threats. I had a security detail with me all the time. Even after I retired, death threats continued and even after I retired as the ICE Director. I had U.S. Marshals protection for a long time to protect me and my family.”
Homan explained that what “doesn’t help” the situation is the “negative press” around Trump.
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“I’m not in the cabinet, but, you know, I’ve read numerous hit pieces. I mean, you know, I’m a racist and, you know, I’m the father of family separation, all this other stuff. So the hate media doesn’t help at all because there are some nuts out there. They’ll take advantage. So that doesn’t help.”
Homan’s comments come shortly after Fox News Digital first reported that nearly a dozen of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and other appointees tapped for the incoming administration were targeted Tuesday night with “violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” prompting a “swift” law enforcement response.
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The “attacks ranged from bomb threats to ‘swatting,’” according to Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman and incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” she told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “In response, law enforcement acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action.”
Sources told Fox News Digital that John Ratcliffe, the nominee to be CIA director, Pete Hegseth, the nominee for secretary of defense, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, the nominee for UN ambassador, were among those targeted. Brooke Rollins, who Trump has tapped to be secretary of agriculture, and Lee Zeldin, Trump’s nominee to be EPA administrator, separately revealed they were also targeted.
Threats were also made against Trump’s Labor Secretary nominee, GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and former Trump attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz’s family.
Homan told Fox News that he is “not going to be intimidated by these people” and “I’m not going to let them silence me.”
“What I’ve learned today I’ll start taking a little more serious.”
Homan added that he believes “we need to have a strong response once we find out is behind all this.”
“It’s illegal to threaten someone’s life. And we need to follow through with that.”
The threats on Tuesday night came mere months after Trump survived two assassination attempts.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report
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