Mitch McConnell Warns Obama To 'Back Off' Supreme Court Justices

WASHINGTON -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that President Barack Obama "crossed a dangerous line" this week with his Supreme Court comments and warned that the president needs to "back off" and let the high court do its work.

During remarks at the Rotary Club of Lexington in his home state, McConnell said Obama was out of line when he said Monday that it would be "an unprecedented, extraordinary step," even tantamount to "judicial activism," if the Supreme Court overturned his health care law. Republicans have pounced on the president's choice of words and say they amount to trying to intimidate court justices. The White House has been defending the remarks all week. The court is currently weighing whether the individual mandate -- the core piece of Obama's signature law -- is unconstitutional because it requires every American to purchase health insurance.

"He looked at the line that wisely separates the three branches of government and stepped right over it," McConnell said of Obama, according to his prepared remarks. "But what the president did this week went even further. With his words, he was no longer trying to embarrass the court after a decision; rather, he tried to intimidate it before a decision has been made. And that should be intolerable to all of us."

The GOP leader said Obama's words were "particularly troubling" given the way he has treated the court in the past. He cited an incident two years ago when the president used a State of the Union address "to publicly chastise the court for its decision on a another case he didn't like -- with members of the court sitting just a few feet away." McConnell was referring to the president condemning the Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case in Janurary 2010. In a split vote, the justices ruled that the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting political expenditures by corporations and unions.

Ultimately, it is the Supreme Court's duty to ensure "we're a nation ruled by laws," McConnell said. "It’s why justices enjoy the freedom to decide cases as they see fit, even if it means upsetting the very president who appointed them."

He said his disagreement with Obama over the comments "is not about what I think of the president as a person," but what he thinks of the duties of the president. The Republican leader urged others to condemn the president's remarks.

"The president crossed a dangerous line this week. And anyone who cares about liberty needs to call him out on it," McConnell said. "So respectfully, I would suggest the president back off. Let the court do its work."

McConnell, of course, is the same GOP leader who said in November 2010 that "the single most important thing" that Republicans hope to accomplish in Congress is "for President Obama to be a one-term president.

UPDATE: 3:45 p.m. -- Senate Democrats later defended Obama's comments.

"I happen to agree as a lawyer and an appellate lawyer ... that it would be an activist jump for the Supreme Court to deny that a mandate is constitutional after 40 years of it being supported by the Republican Party, from Richard Nixon to John Chaffee to the Heritage Foundation," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said during a conference call.

"The Republicans themselves have spent a generation decrying Supreme Court activism, but suddenly when President Obama points out that this would be activist, there's something wrong with saying that," he said. "It doesn't seem very logical."

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), on the same conference call, cited other recent Supreme Court decisions -- the 2010 Citizens United ruling and the Bush v. Gore case that settled the 2000 presidential election -- as a sign that the high court has displayed conservative activism.

Particularly given how those cases played out, Schumer said the Supreme Court "sure looks like a court" that has demonstrated "the very same activism conservatives have decried for decades."

Added Whitehouse, "You might even say corporate activism."

Mike McAuliff contributed to this report.

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Comments

[JLF234]

02:38 PM on 02/19/2013

Not only the President, but everyone should be vocal and critical of the Supreme Court. They have issued a series of rulings that advance a narrow political agenda, are poorly reasoned, and are destroying the country--not the least of which is the Citizens United ruling.

[robdel61946]

11:11 AM on 02/19/2013

OMG!!!!! Do you think that Republicans are really just hypocrites pretending to be outraged??

[Karen Roberts]

11:59 PM on 12/23/2012

We all condemn the Supreme court decisions on Citizens United case. There is so much money in politics, that republicans don't have to pay attention to the american people anymore. I wish some of the Supreme Court members, could be convicted for being traitors, and removed from office. OFFICE FOR LIFE BS just sucks.

[Rmv Card]

02:38 PM on 12/23/2012

McConnell needs to Go home and take his "hood" with him!

[ALECTRO]

11:06 AM on 12/23/2012

So let me understand Mitch - it is OK if a Republican criticises the Supremes, but a Black Democratic President cannot?

It is right and proper for anyone, especially our President, to express their opinions on court rulings. Mitch, I propose that YOU back off of your unfounded criticism of our President.

Mitch - your obstruction of our economy in the cause of Republican partisanship is the worst kind of political hackery.

My hope is your Kentucky constituents will recognise your poor representation of their interests and dump you.

[bcinu2]

04:04 PM on 12/26/2012

Mitch McConnall sent to Washington DC by the people to do The peoples' work. So he makes his work in screwing the tax payers who elected a President of the whole country, be his actions to make the President a one term President. What else has he accomplished. Mitch McConnall being one of the supporters of voter suppression, Had no problem with denying other Americans their right to vote. Talk about UN-American! This fella is nothing more than a traitor to our country. Suppressing the vote is one of the worst things a politician could do. It is rigging the system.

Kind of makes me wonder, why the GOTP is so dead set against raising taxes on people making over $200,00.00 a year. Last time I looked, McConnall and the others get a paycheck around $200,000.00 a year? Self interest at work again? Maybe! He needs to take his butt back to KY and quit living off the backs of taxpayers who he does not support.

Go off the Cliff. Than vote the tax cuts back for the 98%. If itch and Boehner and Cantor try to obstruct the answer will be plain to see by all. What a complete joke that dog faced fool and his companions are. The government had a year to get this together, and now they want to kick it further down the road.

Please Mr. President hold their feet to the fire.......bc

[dabear9245]

11:04 AM on 12/23/2012

Mitch, no one said that sitting on a high court was free nor should be free from reasoned criticism, including your own party. The Republicans and the Democrats have been quite free in their comments and criticisms depending on the issues. This court's decision to grant rights once only reserved for individuals to corporations is surely the most outrageous ruling in decades and deserving of pointed criticism. For a President to remain silent in the face of threats to gut AFC after running and winning on getting the Affordable Health Care Act passed would be asking for far too much.

[tennisguy]

10:05 AM on 12/23/2012

What is going on with HuffPo? This is a story from April 2012.

[hjaz43]

09:37 AM on 12/23/2012

Obama thinks he is better than anyone and is G-d all mighty! He is NOT! Obama has had 4 years to work on this n again now, on vacation . Pathetic he still is and cry s and whines. All the time.

[vallesula]

08:24 AM on 12/23/2012

Most states will send their elected officials, to D.C., to write, legislte and to ennact laws for the good of the land and to improve the lives of our citizens..., but the state of Ky. HAS CROSSED THE LINE by deciding to send a PEEM__PLE ar$e to reside on the rpesident's ar$e.

[Lyric Thompson]

08:06 AM on 12/23/2012

" McConnell was referring to the president condemning the Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case in Janurary 2010.

Yes.. CItizens united where a CORPORATION BECAME A PERSON. I as well as most of the nation disagree with that ruling as well. How is a corporation a person? As for McConnell.. he has forgotten himself and his position. He has for too long served himself rather than the people of this nation.

[johntownsend]

05:41 AM on 12/23/2012

What a pathetic state this country is in. In September 2011 President Obama proposed boosting the economy with a combination of tax cuts and spending increases, aimed in particular at sustaining state and local government employment. Independent analysts reacted favorably. The consulting firm Macroeconomic Advisers estimated that the act would add 1.3 million jobs by the end of 2012. The bill went nowhere, of course, blocked by the GOP domniated congress. And now, having prevented Obama from implementing any of his policies, the GOP point to disappointing job numbers and declare the president’s policies have failed.

In the senate McConnel refused to allow a vote on a bill that would give tax breaks for companies that "insource" jobs to the U.S. from overseas while eliminating tax deductions for companies that move jobs abroad.

The Obama HealthCare program encompasses GOP ideas that were implemented by a GOP governor. A host of progressive ideas (eg public option) were removed at the behest of GOP opposition. Even then no GOPer supported it, and now GOP-dominated state legislatures are stymying the program´s implementation defying the supreme court ruling.

Other Obama initiatives that Cantor blocked in the house:

- $4.5 Trillion in deficit reduction.
- a Jobs Bill to create 2 million jobs.
- a Jobs Bill for Soldiers, who are 10% unemployed.
- a Farm Bill to aid in a massive drought.

In times gone by, subversiveness of this order was considered treason, punishable by death.

[tmtorg]

01:40 PM on 12/23/2012

Many bills get voted down for multiple reasons that we are not even aware of but you only hear what the MSMs want you to hear. Many companies have to send jobs overseas due to the high amount of regulations put on businesses. There have been 68 regulations a day imposed on businesses since November 6th. Taxes and tax breaks are not the only solution but it seems that is the only thing Obama understands.i.e. the tax/fine for businesses opting out of Obamacare, thus putting employees out of work and employers out of business. What stimulates the economy and growth is leaving the money in the hands of the workers so they can invest and buy goods and services. Handing the people's hard earned money over to a government that is throwing it away on useless programs like $27 million to teach Moraccan's pottery making, the green energy programs that went bankrupt, etc, does not stimulate he economy

[johntownsend]

08:34 PM on 12/23/2012

68 regulations per day? Can you be serious? Tell us about it.

[johntownsend]

05:25 AM on 12/23/2012

We thought the electorate rejected the obstructionism and hostage taking which has been the MO of the three self-styled musketeers of the GOP - Boehmer, McConnell and Cantor. So what did they do? They promptly vowed to continue their obstructionism as is evident from their shenanigans in recent weeks. Even as their popularity ratings are in the single digits, they don´t care. Their reckless disregard of election results is appalling but there is method
in their madness.

Not only is the GOP (and especially its most reactionary wing) in pretty good shape, it's likely to be sustained for a long time by the same bubbleheaded voters who elected a bunch of them in 2010. The people of Michigan, for example, and Wisconsin, and North Carolina and Pennsylvania, turned their entire states over to right-wing lunatics.These people did not drop from the sky, and they were not appointed by the Koch brothers. They were elected. And regardless of the carnage they will accomplish in the next few years, which will be considerable, they will probably be elected again. Winning a popularity contest at the presidential level is nice. But the country is not saved. Obama was forced to ditch his choice for secretary of state, and he´s caving again on critical progressive programs. Alas, this is the way democracy works in america. The people presumably know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.

[johntownsend]

05:13 AM on 12/23/2012

McConnell vows obstructionism will continue into Obama´s 2nd term. He has filibustered everything. His directive to all GOP senators is to block every initiative regardless of merit. What bills have the GOP filibustered?

H.R. 12 - Paycheck Fairness Act
H.R. 448 -- Elder Abuse Victims Act
H.R. 466 - Wounded Veteran Job Security Act
H.R. 515 - Radioactive Import Deterrence Act
H.R. 549 -- National Bombing Prevention Act
H.R. 577 - Vision Care for Kids Act
H.R. 626 - Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act
H.R. 1029 - Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act
H.R. 1168 -- Veterans Retraining Act
H.R. 1171 - Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Reauthorization
H.R. 1293 -- Disabled Veterans Home Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act
H.R. 1429 -- Stop AIDS in Prison Act
H.R.5281 -- DREAM Act
S.3985 -- Emergency Senior Citizens Relief Act
S.3816 -- Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act
S.3369 -- A bill to provide for additional disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, Super PACs and other entities
S.2237 -- Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act
S.2343 -- Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act
S.1660 -- American Jobs Act of 2011
S.3457 -- Veterans Jobs Corps Act

What else? Here's an astonishing one. The Republicans filibustered the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act -- basically, healthcare for 9/11 heroes. Every Republican senator voted to filibuster this bill. I suppose the Republicans are only interested in 9/11 heroes when they're used as political props.

[truthblogger12]

11:20 AM on 02/19/2013

Good couple of posts. Appreciate the insight.

[teach yourself]

02:56 AM on 12/23/2012

Bohner's the story, hello? i keep hearing McConnell, hes got no say, yeah, if the war party doesn't offer up a few moderates, he can peel a few off but Bohner losing control, not even able to read his own caucus, this guy is toast, hello? the speaker of the house called for a vote and his caucus turned their backs on him. in my life, ive never seen this, thank you, war party, you will twist and turn before my eyes, i need your pain, it gives me pleasure to see you come apart at the seems, the guy with the stick in ct mowed fown the wrong ppl, youre the enemy of this nation, the domestic enemy of the people, im saying it proudly, go away

[johntownsend]

11:28 PM on 12/22/2012

McConnell has singularly cost the nation immeasurable damage by openly vowing his number one aim was "to make Obama fail", and then following through with scorched-earth political tactics to block every initiative to create jobs and accelerate the economy. He abused the filibuster so aggressively that it was used over the last 3 years many more times the sum total in history beforehand and then some. It cost the nation billions in increased interest costs when the country´s credit rating was lowered. The toll of blocked legislation is breath-takingly appalling.

And now in light of a veritable landside election for Obama, all McConnell comes out with his chiding insulting remarks to the president ... not one bit of acknowledgement or congratulations. And when Obama had the courtesy to call him right after his acceptance speech, McConnell was asleep and could not be disturbed. What an impudent twit!
This man should be fired! He doesn´t belong in gov´t.

[teach yourself]

01:28 AM on 12/23/2012

what kind of public servant, (he serves his mom his seed), has no vision, and the only thing he wants to accomplish is to ruin the other guy? hes a visionless excuse for a wastepaper basket