Political Quotes

“I will shortly ask to have a quorum call by noting the absence of a quorum, but before I do that, I wanted to point out just one issue of vocabulary, if you will, which is that the definition of ``court packing'' has actually two operative definitions on the Senate floor: One is to expand the number of judges; the other is to take advantage of existing vacancies and try to use them to change the balance of the courts and to put in judges who are predisposed to certain rulings. That is, in fact, the meaning that Senator McConnell gave to that term when he said that President Obama was seeking ``to pack the D.C. Circuit with appointees'' when he was filling vacancies; that Senator Cornyn used when he said President Obama wanted to ``pack the D.C. Circuit''; what Senator Grassley used when he announced President Obama's ``efforts to pack'' the D.C. Circuit; and when Senator Lee of Utah accused President Obama of trying to ``pack the D.C. Circuit with unneeded judges simply in order to advance a partisan agenda.'' So when we describe all that has taken place across the last three nominations--all the procedural abnormalities, all the peculiarities of funding, all the odd political behavior on the other side, the 180- degree, tire-squealing reversals, all of that, we are actually following the vocabulary that you all used about the D.C. Circuit, just to be clear on that point. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.…”