Do Lifetime Supreme Court Appointments Still Make Sense?
*By Amanda Weston*
Justice Brett Kavanugh's Saturday confirmation may have awakened some Americans to a different version of the Supreme Court.
"I think if there's any silver lining to this, \[it's that]\ we should stop thinking that it was ever non-political," John Iadarola, co-host of The Young Turks, told Cheddar Monday.
"This idea that there are activist judges and there are other judges that, despite the fact that they work in politics, that they pay attention to politics every day, they did their entire lives, they're not actually swayed by any political ideology or anything like that. That's absurd. These are political figures."
Nick Givas, reporter at The Daily Caller, agreed. He told Cheddar that many have tried to convince others the Supreme Court is "this unbiased holy entity that is above reproach."
But that's not really the case, he said.
"I mean, it's appointed by presidents," Givas said. "We count them by conservatives versus liberals. Every time we break down the numbers and the balance of 'the Court' it's a political balance, and they decide cases that are going to affect the law ー the law of the land, people's everyday lives. It's hard not to be political. We're asking them to be more than just men and women. We're asking them to be completely incorruptible, and they're human."
Politics and controversy were major players in Kavanaugh's confirmation. The Senate approved him for the job Saturday by a slim 50-48 vote ー the slimmest confirmation margin since 1881 ー as some onlookers in the gallery repeatedly [shouted, "shame!"](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/us/politics/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court.html)
The vote came a little over a week after dramatic testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee from both Prof. Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when the two were in high school, and the judge who vehemently denied the allegations.
Democrats slammed the [ensuing FBI investigation](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/grassley-says-new-fbi-report-kavanaugh-includes-no-new-info-n916601) as incomplete, whereas many Republicans praised it. Even President Donald Trump weighed in.
"This is now the 7th time the FBI has investigated Judge Kavanaugh. If we made it 100, it would still not be good enough for the Obstructionist Democrats," [he tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1047853098365079553).
Iadarola alluded to the "popular mythology" that Justices are driven only by Constitutional concerns, not party.
"That might be true to some extent, but they are political people," he said. "And Brett Kavanaugh just makes that even more obvious, especially with his rant during his testimony about some sort of bizarre Clinton revenge plot."
Givas said another possible effect of Kavanaugh's confirmation has yet to be seen.
"Obviously the Democrats are getting a boost because they lost this fight, so they're going to come out and definitely vote," Givas said. "But I think Republicans, I think they're upset about this process, whether he was going to be confirmed or not. This has awoken a party that was asleep."
Givas said those who weren't planning to vote may now cast ballots for the GOP, potentially contributing to an unforeseen "red wave."
"I think they're going to defy conventional wisdom and the current polling," Givas said. "I think they are going to hold the House, and they're going to hold the Senate."
Kavanaugh officially begins his duties as Justice on Tuesday.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/kavanaugh-confirmation-makes-waves-through-washington).
Krutika Amin, associate director at the Kaiser Family Foundation for the Program on the Affordable Care Act, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss the Biden administration's plan to fix the so-called 'family glitch' in the Affordable Care Act preventing millions of Americans from accessing government-subsidized health plan.
Abdallah Fayyad, opinion writer at the Boston Globe, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss the House's vote to hold former Trump aides Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro in contempt of Congress and send the recommendation to the Department of Justice. Fayyad also weighs in on the pressure facing Attorney General Merrick Garland to be more aggressive in prosecuting the January 6 case.
Those paying back federal student loans are getting a few extra months of relief. President Biden just announced another extension of the pandemic relief program allowing millions of borrowers to freeze their student loan payments. The pause began in March 2020 and it has been extended six times. Tomas Campos, co-founder and CEO of Spinwheel, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
There has been notable disagreement in the medical community about a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose. The FDA last week authorized a second booster dose for older and immunocompromised individuals, as some agency officials did not support the idea. The FDA made the decision without meeting with its advisory committee, as it had ahead of its recommendations on the previous COVID-19 vaccine doses.
The CDC followed in the footsteps of the FDA and authorized a fourth dose as well. Reports say the agency also did not discuss the move with its own advisory team of vaccine experts. Now, a growing number of doctors are speaking out against the decisions - leaving people confused about whether they should get another vaccine dose. Dr. Julie Morita, a member of the CDC's advisory committee to the director, and the executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The Senate has confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, shattering a historic barrier by securing her place as the first Black female justice and giving President Joe Biden a bipartisan endorsement for his effort to diversify the court
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for COVID-19, her spokesman says. That's a day after the 82-year-old Democratic leader appeared unmasked at a White House event with President Joe Biden.
JetBlue made an unsolicited offer to buy low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, potentially jeopardizing the original offer from Frontier Airlines. Several analysts sounding the alarm on JetBlue's proposed $3.6 billion merger, saying the deal doesn't quite make sense. Jim Corridore, Senior Insights Manager at Similarweb joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
The Biden administration is once again extending the pause on federal student loans payments — this time, through the end of August. In a statement, President Biden cited a recent analysis from the Fed that if the payments were to resume, millions of student loan borrowers would face significant "economic hardship, delinquencies, and defaults that could threaten America's financial stability." Sarah Foster, an analyst at Bankrate, breaks down the impact of the extension on borrowers, the economy, and the future of student loan forgiveness. "I think this is just an instance of the federal student loan forbearance program kind of creating additional uncertainty for borrowers, especially in the sense that these past four extensions from the Biden administration have kind of come at the 11th hour here," she said.
