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Sen. Cruz on coronavirus, how Senate should handle Schumer’s ‘judicial intimidation’

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss the government’s coronavirus response and Sen. Chuck Schumer’s ‘unacceptable’ comments directed at Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday sparred with President Trump’s nominee for a powerful spot on the nation’s second-highest court, attacking him for past statements on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), one of his recent rulings as a district court judge and his past support for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

One of the tense moments came when Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pushed Walker on his past criticisms of the Supreme Court’s reasoning in NFIB v. Sebelius, a case that controversially upheld the constitutionality of the ACA, also known as ObamaCare. Blumenthal put up a poster of a boy named Connor who he said was one of his constituents, who suffers from muscular dystrophy. Blumenthal credited the ACA with helping the boy’s family afford his treatment and accused Walker of wanting to take away that law.

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“He is a beneficiary of the Affordable Care Act, he is a warrior and a fighter,” Blumenthal said. “That’s why he’s still alive, and he’s become a fighter for the Affordable Care Act.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., questions Judge Justin Walker, while a photo of a young constituent from Ridgefield, Conn., named Conner Curran, who Blumenthal said suffers from muscular dystrophy and was helped by the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare, is displayed during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Walker’s nomination to be a U.S. circuit judge for the District of Columbia Circuit on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Blumenthal continued, directing his words at Walker: “He is one of 1.5 million people in Connecticut … who would lose their health insurance because they suffer from preexisting conditions under your legal principle that you continue to passionately espouse. … Do you continue to believe in those legal principles … that the Supreme Court decision upholding the ACA was indefensible?”

Walker responded by calling the boy a “hero” and saying, “I’m in awe of kids like that and people like that.” He then moved on to tell Blumenthal that it is the legislature’s responsibility to make constitutional health care policies before Blumenthal interrupted him.

“And we did that judge, we did that in the Affordable Care Act, which you would strike down if you had the chance,” the senator said.

“If I can finish, senator,” Walker responded, “I’ve never spoken against the Affordable Care Act as a matter of policy. I said in my answer a moment ago that Congress [has] a role to play in making. … I think all members of Congress would say they have a role to play in making health care more affordable and accessible within the limits of the Constitution.”