The Senate Democrats have made it their focus to impose on Judge Amy Coney Barrett a predetermined position she will take on the upcoming Obamacare case that she will rule on if confirmed as Supreme Court Justice. Because of this predetermined idea of what ACB will rule, they want her to prematurely recuse herself from the case.
But when Senator Lindsey Graham questioned ACB about whether she would recuse herself, her response surprisingly stopped the Democrats’ argument in its track. ACB said, “Well, senator, recusal itself is a legal issue. You know there’s a statute, 28 U.S.C. § 455, that governs when judges and justices have to recuse; there’s precedent under that rule. Justice Ginsburg, in explaining the way recusal works, said that it’s always up to the individual justice, but it always involves consultation with the colleagues — with the other eight justices. So that’s not a question that I could answer in the abstract.”
Barrett said that she would follow the same procedure of every other Supreme Court Justice, and it is against precedent to decide whether she would recuse herself without a discussion with her colleagues on the bench.
While the Democrats have increasingly attacked ACB over the upcoming Obamacare case, and have said that President Trump chose her in order to dismantle the law, Barrett told the senators the question of Obamacare has not come up with the president. ACB said, “I have had no conversation with the president or any of his staff on how I might rule in that case. It would be a gross violation of judicial independence for me to make any such commitment or be asked about that case and how I would rule.”
ACB has continued to state that politics and the laws judged on the Supreme Court are completely separate. She has stated her own political leanings will not be a factor when she rules on cases, and that the law should be interpreted as written.