Senator Thom Tillis Rubber-stamped A Lifetime Appointment. Here Are The Questions I’d Ask the Supreme Court Nominee.

Today, Senator Thom Tillis and Mitch McConnell will move forward with their efforts to jam through a lifetime appointee to the Supreme Court. They are moving in haste on election-year political priorities rather than working around the clock to secure extended jobless benefits for one million North Carolinians who are out of work, expand health care access, or help schools and small businesses reopen safety in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I’ve been clear: the next President and the next Senate should fill this vacancy on the highest court in our land. North Carolinians want their voices to be heard in this process — and we are voting now. And the most important priority in our country right now is defeating the virus and providing relief to families and small businesses until we can get a vaccine.

Not too long ago, Senator Tillis himself believed we should not fill a vacancy on the court in the midst of a Presidential election. He even said it was a matter of principle. Now, Senator Tillis has reversed himself in haste. Within hours of the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senator Tillis called for an immediate vote and pledged to confirm whomever the President sent to the Senate, sight unseen. Why? To try to score political points and salvage his flailing re-election campaign.

Rather than listen to and respect the people of our state, Senator Tillis has once again caved to partisan and party interests — a recurring pattern in his public life, even when it is wrong for North Carolina. Instead of acting as a check and balance on this Administration, Senator Tillis has delivered a blank check to the White House, signed in the name of the people of North Carolina.

That’s the wrong answer for our state. We are proudly independent people and we expect that our Senator take seriously his constitutional duty to vet and confirm judges to the highest court of the land. Senator Tillis has done the opposite.

If I were in the Senate today, I would meet with Judge Amy Coney Barrett, evaluate her legal record, qualifications and temperament, and ask questions on behalf of North Carolinians who could be impacted by her decisions for years to come, should she be confirmed.

Here are the questions I would ask:

• There are 1.7 million people in North Carolina living with pre-existing conditions who depend on the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections to shield them from being denied health care. You were publicly critical of Justice Roberts’ decision to uphold the ACA, and said his opinion was wrongly decided. Given your past criticisms, how can you remain impartial on the case that is set to go before the Supreme Court in November to invalidate the ACA in its entirety, including pre-existing condition protections?
• You said last year that a Supreme Court nominee “can’t answer questions about specific cases, but questions about judicial philosophy should be on the table.” You’ve been clear that you believe precedent can be set aside when making judicial decisions. Does that mean that established precedents on the constitutionality of issues such as marriage equality and civil rights can be overturned even when millions of Americans rely on those precedents? What does that mean for North Carolinians who now enjoy protections under the law because of those decisions?
• In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in its Citizens United decision that corporations are people and that allowing them to engage in unregulated political speech would not raise the specter of corruption in politics — a decision allowing for the unlimited flow of dark money into political elections and putting more power and influence in the hands of corporations and the wealthy few. Do you believe that corporations are people for the purposes of making unlimited political donations? And do you believe that corporate spending in our politics is having a corrupting influence on political decision making?
• President Trump nominated you for the Court merely weeks away from an election. Do you believe you should recuse yourself from any election question that may come before the Supreme Court to avoid a conflict of interest? If not, why?
• You’ve given several speeches and talks on the subject of Roe v. Wade hosted by issue-advocacy groups and signed a paid advertisement that was critical of this landmark Supreme Court decision. You chose not to disclose those speeches. Where do you stand on a woman’s right to privacy, dignity, liberty, choice and due process established in Roe v. Wade and relied on by American women in family planning decisions for more than forty-five years? And will you uphold the precedent set by Roe v. Wade?
• More than 3,000 people in my state have died from the COVID-19 pandemic, with even more out of work and struggling to make ends meet as North Carolinians stay home and follow public health guidelines to keep themselves and their families safe. Given the pain that has befallen North Carolina, do you have any regrets over attending the White House ceremony that flouted public health guidelines and is now considered to be a superspreader event?