When he's not guest hosting MSNBC's The Cross Connection, Jason Johnson is a politics and journalism professor at Morgan State University, which does not inspire confidence in the next generation of journalists as he warned on Saturday of "catastrophic implications" of the Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative balance and condemned Sen. Mitch McConnell for not allowing President Biden to pack the Court.
Johnson's monologue was the result of a question from a viewer wondering what "we" have to do to make the Court more "fair and balanced" and representative of the "diverse country in which we live."
Johnson began by warning viewers that while most of the attention is on President Biden and Congress, "the Court plans to take up an abortion case that can have catastrophic implications for Roe v. Wade and they're weighing whether or consider a major challenge to affirmative action in college emissions."
He informed the audience that all that needs to be done to expand the Court is for Congress to pass a law, which has been introduced, but of course that is unlikely, not because it is a naked power grab, but because McConnell is an obstructionist:
Of course, saying Congress just has to pass a law is a little like saying in a couple of weeks in a gym I can be Simone Biles. Although there is a bill to expand from 9 to 13 justices, it has little chance of success because you can be sure Mitch McConnell will do anything not to give President Biden a chance to appoint new justices and ruin the conservative majority that Mitch has worked so, so hard for.
Going on to show just how hard McConnell has worked, Johnson falsely accused him of "stealing a Supreme Court seat from President Biden [sic] when Justice Scalia died."
Obviously, Johnson meant to say Obama, but that slip-up was hardly the worst part of the diatribe. He then went on to declare that the mere existence the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh should've been enough to sink his confirmation, "then by helping getting a man accused of sexual misconduct onto the bench."
Finally, Johnson accused McConnell of "jamming through Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation just eight days before the election of 2020."
Johnson then mentioned that although there have been calls from the left to expand the Court, Biden has not endorsed such an action, but has put together a commission to study, "structural changes to America's highest court. Not only changing the number of justices but other moves like, I don't know, imposing term limits."
Wrapping up, Johnson focused on the left's relationship with Justice Breyer, "some progressives have shifted their focus to 82-year old Justice Stephen Breyer, urging the liberal justice to step down now and make room for one of Biden's picks, a younger liberal justice who can be on the Court for decades, perhaps even the first black woman, imagine that."
This segment was sponsored by Liberty Mutual.
Here is a transcript for the June 12 show:
MSNBC
The Cross Connection With Tiffany Cross
10:52 AM ET
JASON JOHNSON: With most of the attention these days on President Biden and Congress, we've learned that the Court plans to take up an abortion case that can have catastrophic implications for Roe v. Wade and they're weighing whether or consider a major challenge to affirmative action in college emissions. So, the topic of the Court's composition and ideological balance is crucial especially since they have a 6-3 conservative majority. The legal process for changing the number of justices on the Supreme Court is pretty simple, Congress just has to pass a law, which it did most recently back in 1869 setting the Court's membership at its current limit of nine. Of course, saying Congress just has to pass a law is a little like saying in a couple of weeks in a gym I can be Simone Biles. Although there is a bill to expand from 9 to 13 justices, it has little chance of success because you can be sure Mitch McConnell will do anything not to give President Biden a chance to appoint new justices and ruin the conservative majority that Mitch has worked so, so hard for. First, by stealing a Supreme Court seat from President Biden when Justice Scalia died, then by helping getting a man accused of sexual misconduct onto the bench, then by jamming through Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation just eight days before the election of 2020. You'll remember that around Barrett's confirmation the calls for the next Democratic president to expand the Court were getting louder, but Biden demurred, saying he quote “wasn't a fan of the idea of actually expanding the Court” and refused to come down strongly one way or another. This April he created a 36 member chamber, not the Wu-tang Clan, but a commission to study possible structural changes to America's highest court. Not only changing the number of justices but other moves like, I don't know, imposing term limits. The commission had its first public meeting three weeks ago, outlining their bylaws and coming up with a schedule of hearings later this summer. In the meantime some progressives have shifted their focus to 82-year old Justice Stephen Breyer, urging the liberal justice to step down now and make room for one of Biden's picks, a younger liberal justice who can be on the Court for decades, perhaps even the first black woman, imagine that. You can bet Tiffany and the team will be keeping a close eye on every new development.
