Adam Schiff Rails Against Judicial Nominee, Warns He Is A Proponent Of 'Dangerous Legal Arguments'

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During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) spoke about the nomination of Eric Tung to serve on the federal bench.

Transcript

00:00One of the opportunities I was looking most forward to when I was elected to the Senate was the chance to work with the White House,

00:05including under Republican administrations, to select good nominees for the federal bench in California and beyond.

00:14Unfortunately, that optimism didn't last very long.

00:17I was disappointed by the White House's failure to work with Senator Padilla and myself

00:21to select an appropriate and mainstream nominee to the vacant Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals seat in Pasadena.

00:27Instead, President Trump decided to appoint Eric Tung, someone who is and has expressed vehemently anti-labor, anti-collective bargaining ideas

00:37and once organized a protest against Labor Day.

00:40As a U.S. Senator from California, that is particularly concerning for a state where Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta

00:47made such a principle and celebrated stand for working people.

00:52Mr. Tung has been a proponent of dangerous legal arguments like the independent state legislature theory,

00:59a theory so fringed that even this Supreme Court ruled against the position he took in 2023 by a vote of 6-3.

01:08That case which conservative scholar and judge Michael Ludig described as the most important case for American democracy

01:16in the almost two and a half centuries since America's founding.

01:20That we would have someone who would take such a dangerous and fringe position

01:24in a case of that seminal importance to our democracy is deeply alarming.

01:30Mr. Tung has said that he believes in gender roles and that as an originalist,

01:35he disagrees with current Supreme Court precedent recognizing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage

01:41and same-sex couples' right to privacy.

01:45The White House, I think, missed a real opportunity to work with Senator Padilla and myself

01:49to identify a candidate who could garner bipartisan support in this fragile moment.

01:55We were prepared to and have tried to work in good faith despite the many attacks that we have endured

02:02from the White House against Senator Padilla and myself.

02:05Just this week, the Attorney General announced that her department had filed a misconduct complaint

02:11against the sitting federal district court judge because he ruled against the administration

02:16and has issued an order to show cause why the Justice Department should not be held in contempt.

02:23The merits of which now multiple whistleblowers have filed complaints.

02:27And this action by the administration to penalize a judge holding hearings into whether orders of his court were violated

02:38demonstrates, I think, the danger to the rule of law

02:43and the importance of making sure that we confirm judges who will prioritize obedience to the rule of law

02:52and not just obedience to the President of the United States, the person of the President.

02:58And now more than ever, we need federal judges who will protect the rule of law.

03:01So I join Senator Padilla in expressing my grave concerns about Mr. Tung.

03:05I look forward to this hearing and the opportunity to question him about his loyalty to the President

03:13and whether that takes priority over obedience to the law.

03:18And I yield back.

03:18Mr. Tung and Mr. Dunlap, please come forward and stand so I can swear you in.

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