{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=40A96503-6BC3-4E8E-BAF9-73D927F82AD4", "Thune Condemns Democrats\u2019 Crusade to Delegitimize the Supreme Court", "2024-07-09", "2024", "2024-07", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke on the Senate floor about Democrats\u2019 latest attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and noted that these ongoing attacks weaken our institutions.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, the Supreme Court recently concluded its term, and as predicted, Democrats met the decisions they didn\u2019t like with howls of outrage.\n\n\u201c\u2018We will fight to rein in the outrageous abuses of this brazen Court,\u2019 one Democrat offered temperately.\n\n\u201c\u2018We must expand the Court now,\u2019 another cried, before it, quote, \u2018destroy[s] our democracy and our planet.\u2019\n\n\u201cYet another announced that she would be filing impeachment articles against a Supreme Court justice or justices \u2013 presumably for the high crime of ruling in a way that she didn\u2019t like.\n\n\u201cMr. President, for years now \u2013 since at least the last administration \u2013 Democrats have been engaged in a concerted campaign to paint the Supreme Court as illegitimate and extreme.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve heard about \u2018stolen seats\u2019 and \u2018MAGA justices\u2019 and other melodramatic statements meant to persuade the American people that the Supreme Court has somehow been hijacked.\n\n\u201cBut what it all boils down to, Mr. President, is this:\n\n\u201cDemocrats think that the only legitimate Supreme Court is a Supreme Court that rules in line with Democrats\u2019 policy preferences.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s it, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what it all boils down to.\n\n\u201cDemocrats can dress things up any way they like, with a host of invented reasons for why this court is illegitimate.\n\n\u201cBut the truth of the matter is, Democrats\u2019 real problem with this court is that a number of the justices have had the temerity to periodically deliver rulings that Democrats disagree with.\n\n\u201cIf this court were universally delivering the outcomes that Democrats want, they would have no problem with the court or its Republican nominees.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I could spend time debunking Democrats\u2019 wild claims.\n\n\u201cI could point out just how often this court delivers unanimous decisions \u2013 yes, contrary to what you might think from Democrats\u2019 lurid statements, the Democrat nominees and the Republican nominees are frequently in unanimous agreement.\n\n\u201cOr I could talk about just how often some of the court\u2019s more conservative justices and some of the court\u2019s more liberal justices agree.\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019m not going to do that today.\n\n\u201cBecause I\u2019d like to spend a minute talking about the profound irresponsibility Democrats are displaying.\n\n\u201cWe hear a lot from Democrats about their concern for our institutions.\n\n\u201cAnd yet they are attempting to delegitimize a bedrock American institution all for the crime of periodically daring to deliver decisions that Democrats disagree with.\n\n\u201cAnd at a time of deep political division, I can think of few things more irresponsible than attempting to shake Americans\u2019 faith in the impartiality of the court and the legitimacy of our institutions.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I realize that Democrats don\u2019t like it when a decision doesn\u2019t go their way.\n\n\u201cAnd I completely understand that.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve disagreed with a few Supreme Court decisions in my time.\n\n\u201cBut it\u2019s one thing \u2013 a legitimate thing \u2013 to disagree with a decision.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s another thing entirely to let your disagreement lead you into attempting to delegitimize a duly constituted court composed of nine duly confirmed justices.\n\n\u201cI hate to tell Democrats, but in a democratic republic such as ours, you don\u2019t always get your way.\n\n\u201cAnd the proper response when you don\u2019t get your way is not to attempt to tear down institutions or pack the court so that you always get the outcomes you want.\n\n\u201cMr. President, before I close, there is one other thing I would like to address.\n\n\u201cAnd that is the disturbing anti-religious sentiment that has cropped up in recent Democrat attacks on the court.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s not a new thing for Democrats, of course.\n\n\u201cWe all remember the Democrat ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee telling then-circuit-court-nominee Amy Coney Barrett that, quote, \u2018The dogma lives loudly within you\u2019 \u2013 with the implication that anyone who takes his or her religious faith seriously can\u2019t be trusted to hold public office.\n\n\u201cAnother judicial nominee faced scrutiny for his membership in the Knights of Columbus \u2013 a Catholic organization that participates in such disturbing activities as serving veterans, raising money for the needy, and providing young people with scholarships.\n\n\u201cAnd of course during the last presidential election cycle, a Biden staffer stated that she\u2019d prefer that orthodox Catholics, Muslims, and Jews not sit on the Supreme Court.\n\n\u201cNow it would appear that that anti-religious sentiment is back, with more than one Senate Democrat suggesting that certain members of the Supreme Court can\u2019t be trusted because they happen to take their religious faith seriously.\n\n\u201cThese Democrats take the fact that these members of the court have periodically ruled in ways that Democrats don\u2019t like as evidence that they are attempting to impose their faith instead of the law \u2013 with the implication that religious people are incapable of distinguishing between the two.\n\n\u201cMr. President, the Constitution is very clear on whether being a person of faith can disqualify you from public office.\n\n\u201cFrom Article Six: \u2018\u2026 no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.\u2019\n\n\u201cLet me just repeat that.\n\n\u201c\u2018NO religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s becoming clear that that isn\u2019t a section of our Constitution that Democrats agree with \u2013 or understand.\n\n\u201cAnd that is deeply disturbing.\n\n\u201cI shouldn\u2019t have to tell Democrats that religious people are as capable as any other of distinguishing between their beliefs and the law.\n\n\u201cOr that our founders did not intend for religious people to be second-class citizens.\n\n\u201cOr that a Supreme Court justice disagreeing with a Democrat does not mean that the Supreme Court justice is attempting to impose his or her faith.\n\n\u201cIt likely means that he or she is trying to impose the law \u2013 and the Constitution.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m a little tired of members of the Democratic Party promoting the un-American idea that taking your faith seriously makes you less qualified to participate in the public square.\n\n\u201cMr. President, if Democrats really cared about protecting our democracy and American institutions, they would stop trying to undermine the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.\n\n\u201cBut with Democrats\u2019 inability to deal with not getting their way \u2013 and with an upcoming election this November \u2013 I\u2019m not holding my breath.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:32:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=40A96503-6BC3-4E8E-BAF9-73D927F82AD4"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5379448886960745, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": 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