Democrats Rip ‘Radical’ Supreme Court Decision Axing Affirmative Action In Education

, a reference to Republicans helping former President Donald Trump confirm two of his picks by blocking confirmation of then-President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland and then ramming through Justice Amy Coney Barrett just days before the 2020 presidential election, while millions of people were casting votes for Joe Biden.

Then there was the court’s break from long-standing precedent last year to overturn Roe v. Wade, once again carried out by the court’s 6-3 conservative supermajority. Its two most conservative justices — Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — hinted that they’d like to revisit other landmark decisions to potentially revoke more rights, including the 2015 decision that granted same-sex couples the constitutional right to marry.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said the court’s decision on affirmative action is “just the latest example of the activist conservative Justices’ willingness to overturn settled precedents and discount democratic values in pursuit of their ideological policy agenda.”

“Once again, this extreme Supreme Court has taken our country backwards,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), also a member of the Judiciary Committee. She called Thursday’s decision “shortsighted and detached from reality.”

Beyond concerns about the court’s extremist turn, Thomas and Alito have been mired in ethics scandals. A bombshell report from ProPublica revealed that Thomas has been accepting luxury trips almost every year for more than 20 years from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow and not disclosing them. Thomas also sold his ancestral home to Crow without disclosing it. Crow, meanwhile, has had financial interests before the court.

Alito similarly accepted an undisclosed trip from a GOP megadonor who had business before the court. Justice Neil Gorsuch also failed to disclose that he sold property for more than $1 million to a top law firm executive with business before the court.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called Thursday’s decision “especially striking” considering that at least three justices “are facing major corruption scandals” and a majority of the justices were appointed by a president who lost the popular vote, referring to Trump and former President George W. Bush.

“No wonder American people increasingly see this Court as corrupt and facing a legitimacy crisis,” she said in a statement.

It is clearly time to move forward with court reform, said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who is the ranking member on the House Judiciary subcommittee on the courts and a sponsor of legislation to add four more seats to the court.

“Justice ‘Harlan Crow’ Thomas and five other MAGAs have just slammed the college doors on Black and Brown folks after declaring that we now live in a color-blind country,” Johnson said in a statement. “This decision can lead to the demise of [historically Black colleges and universities]. We cannot let that happen.”

He added, “This judicial activism must be met with passage of my legislation to expand SCOTUS.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who called the decision to axe affirmative action “a step backwards,” said he plans to reintroduce a bill to stop universities from giving preferential treatment to children of alumni and donors.

“The last thing we should want is a world in which underrepresented students are given less opportunity while the wealthiest and most privileged students have their own special form of affirmative action,” Merkley said in a statement.

The Oregon senator said he and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) will “soon” unveil their legislation, the Fair College Admissions for Students Act, to ban colleges and universities from giving an unfair advantage to the kids of financial donors and legacy alumni in the admissions process.