Angry Baker Wants Congress To Focus On Coronavirus Relief Not Supreme Court
BOSTON (CBS) – An angry Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker slammed Congress, including fellow members of the Republican party, for putting more of their focus on confirming a replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court than the coronavirus pandemic.
The Republican governor said states have received "uneven, inconsistent response" from the federal government.
"And they're now going to wrap themselves up in a conversation about the Supreme Court - which is important - but nobody looks good with respect to how they've chosen to position themselves over the course of the last four years on this issue - at a point in time what I would really like to see them focus on is the pandemic - which has killed 200,000 people in the United States of America so far, and continues to wreak havoc on our economy and our communities across, not just the Commonwealth, but across the country. So, yeah, I'd like to see them focus on the pandemic," said Baker.
Baker called the response from Democrats and Republicans "classic Washington behavior," pointing out previous stances by senators when President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Garland never received a confirmation hearing.
"Four years ago, just about this time, the Democrats all said it was incredibly important to move forward to put another person on the bench, and the Republicans all said 'No, that's a really bad idea.'" Four years later, only because the circumstances have changed, Republicans say we need to move forward - it's a critical issue for the country, and the Democrats say no, we should wait until after the election," said Baker. "One hundred percent ends justify the means. Classic Washington behavior. And it's a big part of why most people in this country think Washington is a problem, period."
The Massachusetts governor previously said he believes Americans should vote in November before the next Supreme Court justice is confirmed.