The Transformer 4/25/17

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#StopSessions Update: Beyond the Controversy: Actions speak LOUDER than words; What is AG Jeff Sessions really up to? Article by: Caitlyn Cobb

(all sources linked in green throughout article)

War on the Judiciary United States Attorney General Jefferson B. Sessions has found himself in hot water again this week, after some comments he made about Hawaii and a Hawaiian judge. In an interview on a conservative TV show The Mark Levin Show, AG Sessions, in response to a question on the status of President Trump's second travel ban, said "I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and constitutional power". His comment has sparked outcry from the Senators of Hawaii, Hawaii's Attorney General, the American citizens of Hawaii, and Twitter. It's easy to get lost in the noise from the latest Trump Administration controversy. The problem with this is that the actions and true beliefs of America's highest law enforcement officer becomes lost in the noise of his crude comments. In the audio podcast clip of The Mark Levin Show (linked above in green as the source), in addition to the comments highlighted above, are many other comments that reinforce what many have coined the Trump Administration's "War on the Judiciary". Prior to his dismissal of the statehood of Hawaii, AG Sessions notes that there are "about 120 plus vacancies on the federal courts" that needed to still be filled and screened and approved by the Department of Justice and President Trump. He discusses a process of vetting and approval for these federal judge seats that is "a bit like it was in the Reagan and Bush years". In other words, he is alluding to a resurgence of the ideological "Litmus tests" reportedly used by those administrations. AG Sessions goes on in the interview to call the judge's interpretations of President Trump's executive orders "weird", and said that, due to these "weird interpretations", he thinks that President Trump is "more understanding now that we need judges who follow the law; not make law". AG Sessions continued that "the judges don't get to psychoanalyze the President to see if the law, the order he issues is lawful". AG Sessions continues that "it will be real important for America to have judges in the model of Judge [sic] Gorsuch and Scalia- people who serve under the law, under the constitution, and not above it, and that they're faithful to the law, and honor it, and don't try to remake it as they'd like it to be." In response to the question asked about the status of President Trump's Travel Ban Executive Order, and also prior to his comment questioning the authority of a federal judge because of his place of residence, AG Sessions called the 9 Circuit "very, very liberal", with emphasis on "very". While there is no problem with pointing out political positions; there is a problem when you imply

The Transformer- 4/25/17 By: Caitlyn Cobb that the court is biased and is making rulings based solely off of partisanship, rather than the facts presented before them. These kinds of remarks highlight the tendency of the Trump Administration to label anything that goes against them as "fake" or "illegitimate". When former President Obama talked in Chicago in his first public address since leaving the White House, he highlighted political polarization and the media bias the polarization has caused. He talked of how everyone could live in their own bubbles, if they wanted to, and not even have to hear anything contrary to their beliefs. Ironically, despite the Trump Administration's insistence on "fake news" outlets, such as CNN, the Trump Administration fosters their own political bubble and sphere of influence, devoid of any negative views towards them. While bias in the media because of the all-time-high political polarization is real- for both Democrats, Republicans, liberals, and conservatives- AG Jeff Sessions' and the Trump Administration's "War on the Judiciary" only furthers this contention, and dangerously tries to erode at the Constitution's purposeful separation of powers. However, part of the power that the Trump Administration has in filling these 120 federal judge vacancies is due to Democrats. “Frustrated by Republican obstruction in 2013, then-majority Democrats changed Senate rules so judicial nominations for those trial and appeals courts are filibuster-proof, meaning it takes only 51 votes, a simple majority in the 100-member Senate, for confirmation. Today, Senate Republicans hold 52 seats…There are currently 20 vacancies in the federal appeals courts, which are one step below the Supreme Court, and roughly 100 more in district courts, where cases are originally tried. Former President Barack Obama had around half that number of vacancies when he took office in 2009. Of the current vacancies, 49 are considered judicial emergencies, a designation based on how many court filings are in the district and how long the seat has been open.” In Indiana, some of these effects can already be seen: “Indiana's next state Supreme Court justice will complete the remaking of the bench, as all five justices will be white and will have been appointed since 2010 by Republican governors.” Considering AG Jeff Sessions' comments about federal judges, and especially in light of Tuesday's news of a federal judge blocking President Trump's newest executive order concerning Sanctuary Cities' funding and the litigation that has sprung up in several states in response to the same executive order, this “War on the Judiciary” doesn't seem close to ending.

Click here to read more on the latest development of a federal judge blocking President Trump's executive order on sanctuary city funding