Trump's SCOTUS picks 'misled' Congress, Sen. Dick Durbin says
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says justices appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by former President Donald Trump were not honest when they suggested to the panel that they'd rely on precedent and uphold the now-overturned Roe v. Wade abortion case.
"They misled the committee," Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, said, agreeing with similar comments from colleagues Susan Collins, R-Me., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. "They were evasive. If they had said (to the committee) what the committee said, there would have been quite a response."
Durbin's reply came in answer to a question as to whether the three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump - Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh - were candid during their confirmation hearings before the committee. Durbin did not become chairman until last year, though he served on the panel and, unlike Manchin and Collins, voted against seating them.
In the interview, Durbin went on to blast "the politicization of the Supreme Court" and said the decision raises questions about "the integrity of the court." But the Illinois Democrat conceded his options in dealing with the matter and fallout from the decision on abortion rights will be limited, unless Democrats pick up seats in the evenly divided Senate in the midterm elections.