News

McConnell announces appointments of first Republican women to Sen. Judiciary Committee, sparks fiery reaction

January 3, 2019 | | Print Article

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee may finally be welcoming some women to their ranks.

As the new Congress is officially seated this week, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa could be the first Republican women to serve on the Committee, according to Politico.

(Image: screenshot)

While the committee appointments weren’t yet finalized, according to a spokesman for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, adding the women to the Judiciary Committee roster would serve to silence criticism about the  appearance of an all-male group of Republicans.

(Image: screenshot)

“Everyone knows Republicans need women on Judiciary,” Marilyn Musgrave, Susan B. Anthony List vice president, said. “It will take away the critics asking, ‘Where are the women?'”

The issue became a point of contention during Committee hearings that focused on testimony from Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the woman accusing him of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford. While Democrats had four women on the Judiciary Committee, including ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, Republicans ended up hiring a female outside prosecutor for the questioning.

“Having a woman Republican senator would have really helped with the Kavanaugh hearing and some of the pushback we saw,” Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said. “It was really unfortunate that the hearing fell right into the narrative the other side was trying to paint, that pro-lifers are all men and are anti-woman, which is just not true.”

Though conservatives applaud the choice of the vocally pro-life lawmakers, pro-abortion advocates clearly do not see the women’s appointments positively. Freshman Sen. Blackburn, who served eight terms in the House, is a staunch pro-life advocate and lead a special House panel which investigated charges against Planned Parenthood.

Up for reelection in 2020, Ernst has also been vocally anti-abortion, authoring legislation in 2017 to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

The inclusion of Blackburn and Ernst, who do not hold any law degree, to the Judiciary Committee would be welcomed by conservatives to change the optics for Republicans.. But critics think it will take more than the appointment of the two women to the powerful committee to change the GOP image.

“Just because a woman serves in a particular role doesn’t mean that person exemplifies values that are going to be best for women and families in this country,” Adrienne Kimmell, vice president of communications and strategic research for the abortion rights group NARAL, told Politico.

Twitter users also weighed in on the appointments, with the predictable critics on the left sounding the alarm over the conservative senators.

Many others, however, welcomed the news.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

$10
$15
$25
$50
Other
$
Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Frieda Powers
Latest posts by Frieda Powers (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles