Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Tuesday criticized President Joe Biden's nominee for a Washington district judge who stumbled when asked basic questions about the Constitution during a hearing last week.
Spokane County Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren "flunked" several questions about Article II and V of the Constitution in the words of McConnell, who commented on the hearings from the Senate floor on Tuesday.
"Article V is not coming to mind at the moment was the response. [Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy] came back with another even more basic request, 'How about Article II?' …. But this sitting judge drew another blank. Article II wasn't coming to mind, either," McConnell said.
"Then she flunked yet another question about legal philosophy, and then again she flunked still another question about the most controversial Supreme Court case this term. Apparently, when this particular nominee had been asked to list the top 10 most impactful cases she'd ever litigated in court, she could only come up with six."
McConnell added: "At no stage of her professional career has this judge focused on federal law. At no point has she ever even appeared in federal court. ... Is this the caliber of legal expert with which President Biden is filling the federal bench? For lifetime appointments? Is the bar for merit and excellence really set this low?"
McConnell also accused Democrats of holding nominees made by Republicans to a double standard.
"Democrats were not particularly impressed or moved by the top-shelf professional excellence or the academic brilliance that the last Republican administration's nominees possessed in spades," he said. "And apparently they don't count those qualities as particularly high priorities now that they're the ones doing the nominating."
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