As the Senate Judiciary Committee launches the confirmation hearings
for Judge Catan G. Brown Jackson to the U. S. Supreme Court President
Biden is focused on uniting allies on a strategy to mitigate the
conflict in Ukraine.
Here to break down. What's at stake is Tamara Keith NPR and Laura
Barone Lopez of Politico, and we welcome both of you to the program.
Amy Walter is away particularly glad to have you
Laura so so much to talk about in the news as we're just suggesting,
And I know you heard to Murli er the conversation with the ambassador
for Poland. President Biden headed to Europe this week meeting with
NATO, then going to Poland. What are white House expectations for
this trip? They are expecting that there will be delivering Bals,
though they aren't telling us what they will deliver, but when it
when a president
Makes a trip. There's a lot of ground work laid out in advance. So
the secretary of defense was already there at NATO. They're all have.
There's been a lot in the works already, so that when President Biden
goes when these meetings between the leaders take place when it's
over, they will have something to announce. We don't know what it
is yet, but they will have something to announce. But just the experts
I talked to say just the sheer act of President Biden.
Going to Europe. You know, Brussels is a 17 hour drive from the border
with Ukraine. The president going to Warsaw, Poland, going to Poland,
which is right there on the border, where
all of these refugees are to make a statement. He makes a statement
simply by being there right? And it also raises expectations by his
being there. Laura doesn't
Does a number of refugee resettlement organizations that I've been
speaking to have said that they really hope that some of the deliverables
are said and are made public when he's there in Poland, such as
You know, expediting the refugee process for Ukrainians who have
family here family reunification, as well as also potentially non
Ukrainians, who fled first to Ukraine and then now have to flee again,
given the crisis, so they're really looking to see the administration,
which he can do without Congress used the refugee resettlement act
to to open the US to a lot of refugees. And right now they're disappointed
that it hasn't been done so far. But they're hoping that this trip
Starts to move the administration in that process. Just as a kind
of footnote to this. The president's been the recipient of criticism
from Republicans. Yes, united in that the United States is doing
is supporting.
Ukraine, But they're saying it could have been more. It could have
been sooner. Tam how much of that is noise? And how much does the
White House worry about that Well, and there are Democrats who said
it could have been more and could have been sooner. There were, there
were Democrats and Republicans alike. Who said that
They wanted the administration to put forward sanctions on Russia
before Russia did anything when Russia was building up troops along
the Ukrainian border.
Um, But ultimately, President Biden has made this choice. And this
trip is all about highlighting that choice. This choice, moving in
lockstep with the allies with NATO with the European Union, even
at times when that makes him seem like he is behind the curve when
it makes him seem, you know, based on American public opinion, and
certainly congressional opinion that he's a little bit behind.
I want to turn to the Catania Brown Jackson Supreme Court hearings,
Laura It was only opening statements today. We haven't heard the
Senators press her on some of the questions. We did hear them raised,
but we didn't hear them.
Pressed. What What is it that the we expect to come from this politically
for the White House? How much does it matter to them that these hearings
go well, it's expected she's going to win confirmation. It is right,
which she can with just democratic support. But the administration
would like to see some Republicans vote to confirm her. It looks
as though Senator Susan Collins is someone who could very well do
that.
But that means that the White House ahead of these hearings, has
tried to get ahead of that attack from Republicans that she is soft
on crime by stating her personal relationship members of her family
who were in law enforcement she's been endorsed by
You know, the largest organization that represents chiefs of police,
some 30,000 chiefs of police. They've endorsed her one thing. I think
that important about her. The context of her record, particularly
the public defender experience that she has is that no one on the
Supreme Court has ever been a public defender. The closest was third.
Thurgood Marshall, who had
Experience is a criminal defense
lawyer. But other than that, she would be the first and one thing
that I've seen, even libertarian think tank Cato Institute mentioned
Is that they think that that diversity on the court could be important
because of the continued erosion of the Sixth Amendment. That means
the fact that more and more in the modern judicial system people
are not getting trial jury trials that has disappeared a lot in the
modern judicial system that someone like her may seek to balance
out those changes. How much does it matter? Tam that they'd get?
Some bipartisan support here. I don't know how much it really matters.
And in terms of I mean, it matters to the White House because the
White House likes to tell this story about how bipartisanship is
possible, and the president tells that story whenever he possibly
can he talks about it.
But you know, in terms of her confirmation, obviously, it doesn't
need to be bipartisan in terms of the modern age of the confirmation
process where you know they went nuclear a few years ago, and ever
since then it's been pretty darn partisan. And you know the the age
of a judicial nominee getting 60 or 70 votes or even more.
It just it looks like it's over that there has become this real ideological
divide over the courts and where the Senate has essentially decided
that
The president doesn't really get his prerogative or that they aren't
going to put a rubber stamp on it. I mean, it's a process we begin
to feel like we've seen this movie before. When we watch these confirmation
hearings, it is. I mean, and to Tamara's point, she can be confirmed
without
Without Republicans, Of course, President Biden is still trying to
have a lot of conversations with Republicans. He's called Susan Collins
at least three times since Justice Stephen Breyer said that he was
going to retire. So of course, the White House is making an effort.
For that. But the likelihood of her getting more than one Republican
vote is is really slim. One other thing I want to ask you both about
as we lost over the weekend, the longest serving Republican member
of the house, Laura, I think you told us. You covered him.
On Capitol Hill. Don young law 88 years old, long time serving member
from Alaska. Tell us a little about him. Yes, well, Congressman,
Young was the dean of the house, the one of the oldest members actually
across both chambers to serve that long And so, you know, he was
known for his chairmanships of the Natural Resources Committee.
He was big on the infrastructure and Transportation Committee. And
one thing notably that Biden as well as others have highlighted in
his passing is is, you know his
him fighting aggressively for Alaska? In terms of earmarks, which
you know we're a thing earlier on in his career, Then they went away
for decades. They returned again recently and so
Most recently voting for Biden's bipartisan infrastructure package.
He was only one of 13 Republicans to do that. Earmarks, of course,
being projects that right in one state or another, the British Nowhere
was one of them was one of the famous ones. Well, may he rest in
peace, Don young.
Thank you both Laura Barron Lopez for joining us to Maracay. Thank