Democratic Georgia Senate candidate Raphael Warnock twice on Sunday declined to clarify his stance on whether the Supreme Court should by expanded, once again avoiding a question that emerged as a key point of contention following Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment in October.
The “court-packing” issue arose during Warnock’s debate Sunday with Republican Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler ahead of a critical Jan. 5 runoff vote. When asked how he would respond to pressure from other Democrats to vote to expand the court if he is elected, Warnock instead spoke about police reform and said Georgians have not brought up the Supreme Court on the campaign trail.
"As I move all across the state, people aren't asking me about the courts and whether we should expand the courts,” Warnock said. “I know that's an interesting question for people inside the Beltway to discuss, but they’re wondering when in the world they’re going to get some COVID-19 relief. They haven’t gotten any from Kelly Loeffler in months.”
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Leading progressives have called for an expansion of the Supreme Court after Republicans voted to confirm Barrett to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg just days prior to the 2020 election. President-elect Joe Biden faced intense scrutiny ahead of Election Day for declining to clarify his own position on court-packing.
When pressed to provide his position, Warnock said he was “really not focused on it.”
“I think that, too often, the politics in Washington have been about the politicians,” he added. “I’m a pastor and so when I think about these issues, I think about the people I’ve had to stand with in the critical care units while their loved ones was dying or between life and death. Not only are they worried about the sickness, they’re worried how in the world they’re going to pay for it.”
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Throughout her campaign, Loeffler has argued that Warnock would side with the Democratic Party’s progressive wing on key policy, including the composition of the Supreme Court. The senator repeatedly referred to Warnock as a “radical liberal” during the debate.
“Justice Ginsburg herself said nine justices is the right number,” Loeffler said. “He would pack the court with radical justices that would legislate from the bench to fundamentally override the Constitution and our laws in this country and Georgians need to know that is wrong for Georgia and our country.”
Warnock declined to address whether he’d support an expansion of the court in the recent past. Both of Georgia’s Senate races moved to runoff votes after no candidate secured at least 50 percent of the vote on Nov. 3.
"I think it’s presumptuous for me to go further down that path – talking about what ought to happen with the courts," Warnock said on Nov. 9. "I’m hopeful that the people of Georgia will look at my life, look at my record and give me the great honor of representing them in the United States Senate."
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Jon Ossoff, the other Democratic Senate candidate in Georgia, has said that he does not support packing the court.
The Supreme Court was one of several sources of conflict between Warnock and Loeffler during the debate. Warnock hammered Loeffler on her response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of additional federal aid in recent months, while Loeffler accused her rival of supporting a radical agenda and failing to support law enforcement.
During the debate, Loeffler repeatedly declined to say whether President Trump had lost the 2020 election. Trump has refused to concede even as the Biden team moves forward with transition proceedings.
“The president has every right to every legal recourse and that’s what’s taking place,” she said.
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