(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) told Fox News’s “Fox and Friends” on Tuesday that he wants to have a constitutional amendment requiring a 10-year wait for anyone who wants to pack the court and increase the number of sitting Supreme Court justices.
“Here’s what we’ve seen the past two years. We’ve seen any time the Democrats don't get their way they want to change the rules. We saw it during sham impeachment. We saw it during everything on the House side especially. Now it looks like the Senate is wanting to join in with this us is they want to change rules if they don't get what they want,” Collins said.
“So what we’re going to say is this: If you want to pack the court like Jerry Nadler you know the chairman of the Judiciary Committee has said and others have said, then we want to put a constitutional amendment that says let's take the heat of the moment out of this. Let’s set a constitutional amendment that says If you want to pack the court then it doesn't take effect until 10 years after the constitutional amendment is actually approved,” he said.
“That way if you are really serious about this, if you have a reason to expand the court beyond your temporary temper tantrum, then we actually will have something that you can go ahead with it, but it takes place 10 years after the heat of the moment that we’re in. So I think what we need to do is take the emotion out of this, but quit always saying you want to change the rules when you don't get what you want,” the congressman said.
Host Steve Doocy noted that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden refused to tell a Milwaukee television station yesterday whether he would pack the court or the list of his SCOTUS nominees.
“What's up with Joe?” Doocy asked.
Collins said Trump has been transparent and available for media scrutiny while Biden’s been hiding in his basement.
“That's been the question for months now: what’s up with Joe? I think he’s been honestly too long in the basement. I just don’t think he understands what's going on, and It's really concerning. The American people need to really watch this. You have two candidates. Now whether you want to vote for Joe Biden or you want to vote for the president. Look at the difference in the two,” he said.
“The president is out leading. The president is out talking. He’s doing every interview. He’s doing town halls,” Collins said. While “Joe Biden just seems to get lost in his own thoughts.”
The congressman said that’s “concerning especially when you have Kamala Harris talking about a Harris-Biden administration or a Harris administration. There may need to be something we are looking at here. There may be a bigger play going on,” he said.
Doocy noted that Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a frontrunner for replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, faced a “ferocious confirmation fight in 2017” because of her Catholic faith. He wondered how well similar scrutiny will go over with voters in Pennsylvania and other places.
“I don't think it should go over anywhere real well. As a chaplain in the military. I have been in the military 19 years. I know what it's like to live in a pluralistic society, and what I’ve seen unfortunately, Steve, is an attack on religious liberties, and many times on the left, they don't like the fact that someone has faith,” Collins said.
“If they want to attack that faith issue, then we’ve got a bigger problem. That's never been something that our founders ever wanted to have happen. In fact, our religious beliefs were made in a pluralistic society,” the congressman said.
“I want to have my faith and have you your faith and we actually express that because that's who we are, and to attack someone on that I think will not play very well because anybody, no matter what faith you have or no faith should be very concerned when that becomes an attacking point for someone wanting to sit on the court,” he added.