Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the Senate will soon vote on the nomination of Aaron Reitz, President Trump's nominee for Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy. Simply put, Mr. Reitz's nomination is a danger to the rule of law. At his confirmation hearing, I asked him a very simple question that should be a softball for any nominee seeking Senate confirmation. When I asked him whether an elected official should be allowed to defy a Federal court order, Mr. Reitz said, ``There is no hard and fast rule about whether in every instance a public official is bound by a court decision.'' I was disgusted to hear these words come out of the mouth of a nominee aspiring to hold a key role at the Department of Justice. Mr. Reitz's failure to unequivocally commit to following Federal court orders even prompted my colleague Senator Kennedy to admonish Mr. Reitz, ``Don't ever, ever, take the position that you're not going to follow the order of a federal court. Ever.'' I couldn't agree more. Despite that sage advice, Mr. Reitz repeated this equivocation in answers to written questions, stating that, ``Parties to litigation are bound by the lawful holdings of their respective court in most circumstances,'' but not all circumstances. This administration has continued to undermine our system of checks and balances by pushing the boundaries of executive power, and, in turn, chipping away at the authority and legitimacy of the judicial branch. Mr.…”