Sasse accuses Democrats of ‘suicide bombing of two branches of government’

Sen. Ben SasseBenjamin (Ben) Eric SasseSunday shows preview: Trump, top Republicans recover from COVID-19; stimulus bill remains in limbo GOP vows quick confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court pick amid coronavirus turmoil McConnell: Plan is to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court pick before election MORE (R-Neb.) said on Sunday that Democrats expanding the Supreme Court and ending the filibuster would be “suicide bombing” and called Democratic presidential nominee Joe BidenJoe BidenDemocratic poll shows neck-and-neck race brewing in Florida House district Nebraska district could prove pivotal for Biden in November Bringing Black men back home MORE’s refusal to clarify whether he would expand the court “grotesque.”

“It’s grotesque that Vice President Biden won’t answer that very basic question,” Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

The Nebraska Republican said an expansion of the court, combined with the elimination of the filibuster, would constitute a “suicide bombing” that would “blow up” their respective branches of government and “turn the Senate into just another House of Representatives.”

Sasse also defended Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President TrumpDonald John TrumpNorth Korea unveils large intercontinental ballistic missile at military parade Trump no longer considered a risk to transmit COVID-19, doctor says New ad from Trump campaign features Fauci MORE’s Supreme Court nominee, amid warnings that she would overturn Roe v. Wade and the Affordable Care Act, saying she was “very clear about her jurisprudence, she’s an originalist and a textualist.”

Judges, Sasse claimed, “don’t advocate for policy positions … we shouldn’t have either Democrats or Republicans on the committee trying to figure out how can they divine the future of how they’re going to rule on particular cases.”

Host Chris WallaceChristopher (Chris) WallaceBob Dole claims no Republicans on debate commission support Trump Debate commission co-chair: ‘No evidence whatsoever’ Trump has tested negative Trump calls into Rush Limbaugh’s show for two hours MORE pushed back, saying Sasse, who is himself staunchly anti-abortion, was “being a little disingenuous here.”

“Aren’t you in fact counting on Justice Barrett to either end or restrict Roe v. Wade, and wouldn’t you be terribly disappointed if she failed to do that?” Wallace asked.

Sasse again denied that judicial originalists held policy positions, saying: “If Amy Barrett were running for the United States Senate from the state of Illinois, she would have policy positions that she would lay out to the American people, [but] that isn’t what a judge’s job is.”

As to the president saying he would appoint a Supreme Court justice who would rule in his favor on issues like the ACA and Roe v. Wade, Sasse replied: “President Trump says a whole bunch of things, so he may say something that’s more outcomes-based.”