Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) slammed President Joe Biden’s judicial nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington on Tuesday after she failed to answer basic questions about the Constitution.
During her confirmation hearing last week, Spokane County Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren failed to give the purpose of Article V of the Constitution, which lays out the process of amending the Constitution. She then failed to answer another fundamental question about the purpose of Article II, which establishes the powers of the presidency and the executive branch.
BIDEN JUDICIAL NOMINEE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT CONSTITUTION DOES
“Goodness gracious,” McConnell said, noting that Article II is something “high schoolers across America learn each year,” according to the Hill. “’Article V is not coming to mind at the moment’ was the response. Sen. Kennedy came back with another even more basic request, ‘How about Article II?’ … But this sitting judge drew another blank. Article II wasn’t coming to mind either.”
McConnell then noted that Bjelkengren also “flunked” Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-LA) questions about legal philosophy and failed to list her 10 most impactful court cases.
“At no stage of her professional career has this judge focused on federal law. At no point has she ever even appeared in federal court,” McConnell said. “Is this the caliber of legal expert with which President Biden is filling the federal bench? For lifetime appointments, is the bar for merit and excellence really set this low?”
The Kentucky Republican noted that Democrats slammed former President Donald Trump’s nominees for the federal bench, claiming they lacked certain qualifications, yet they were willing to look the other way for Biden’s picks.
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“Democrats were not particularly impressed or moved by the top-shelf professional excellence or the academic brilliance that the last Republican administration’s nominees possessed in spades,” McConnell said. “Apparently they don’t count those qualities as particularly high priorities now that they’re the ones doing the nominating.”
Last week’s hearing was not the first time Kennedy had stumped a judicial nominee. In 2017, the Republican senator stumped Trump nominee Matthew Petersen with similar questions. However, Petersen withdrew his own nomination after failing to answer Kennedy’s questions.
