'Goes To The Heart Of Our Constitution': Dick Durbin Decries Budget Provision On Federal Judges

Forbes Breaking News

During a press briefing last week, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke about a provision in the GOP budget that would limit federal courts' ability to enforce contempt citations.

Transcript

00:00Richard.

00:01I think you took the list of people speaking.

00:03Hmm?

00:04Yeah, I got it.

00:06Can you believe that?

00:07Yep.

00:10Thanks, Chuck Schumer.

00:11I want to say a kind word about my colleagues from the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sheldon

00:17Whitehouse and Mazie Horano.

00:20Something interesting has happened in that committee in recent times.

00:24I've been on the committee long enough to have considered literally hundreds, if not

00:29thousands of nominees.

00:30And I kind of know the line of questioning that will be asked of each of the nominee candidates.

00:35That's changed.

00:36It changed this year.

00:38The questions that are being asked are more fundamental to the Constitution.

00:42Basic questions like, do you believe the executive is bound by court orders?

00:48I wouldn't have thought to ask that in previous years, but I had to ask it this year because

00:52the question is whether or not, given a court order, Donald Trump or his administration will

00:58feel bound to follow it as a rule of law.

01:01The questions are asked and the answers are all over the park.

01:05The uncertainty of these nominees as to what the president would do when pushed to the limit,

01:10where the court is saying to him, you have to stop doing this or you have to start doing this

01:15or you'll be found in contempt.

01:17Donald Trump doesn't like to lose.

01:19We know that.

01:20He said it over and over again.

01:22And he's been losing one court case after another because of his outrageous executive orders.

01:27Ninety-seven percent, according to Chuck Schumer, and I don't doubt it, have found against him

01:32in the courts and what he's been trying to do.

01:34And when he loses, what does he say about the judges?

01:37Lunatics!

01:38Communists!

01:39These people hate America!

01:41Even the judges that he appointed, for goodness sakes.

01:45He's turned on Leonard Leo, his patron for so many years, and called him a sleazebag.

01:50You can't keep up with this president when it comes to hurling these invectives.

01:54But there's one thing that they did, and they didn't want to make as public a show of it,

01:59and that's the provision we're talking about today.

02:01In a thousand-page bill on the budget, they put in a provision to try to make sure that,

02:07in many cases, Donald Trump can't lose.

02:10How do they do this?

02:11Well, they say, rather, if you want to enforce a court order as a plaintiff, enforcing it,

02:17for example, a contempt citation, there has to be a security bond filed.

02:22Well, of course, what that means is if you didn't put the money up front when you filed

02:26the case when it comes to enforcement of the order, they're able to challenge it on this

02:31basis.

02:32This is another provision by the Trump administration to avoid responsibility, avoid accountability,

02:38avoid transparency, and avoid losing.

02:41Well, that's no surprise.

02:43But why is it important?

02:44It's important because it goes to the heart of the Constitution.

02:47Article III courts are the last recourse when it comes to challenging the executive branch,

02:53even the congressional branch.

02:55They have to have the power of the Constitution behind them to stand for their decisions and

03:00to make those decisions without fear or favor.

03:04If this provision is included in here, and I hope it won't be included, it's going to make

03:09it extremely difficult to enforce the law and force court orders.

03:13That's what it's all about.

03:14Trump doesn't want to lose, and he's been losing consistently.

03:17He hates these judges, but he can't remove them.

03:19They're in for life.

03:20And now he's decided to change the procedures of the court so that he can't be forced to

03:27enforce court orders.

03:28That is unacceptable, and it goes to the heart of our constitutional democracy.

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