During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) denounced Congressional Republicans' reconciliation package.
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00:00The gentleman from New York is recognized.
00:01Move to strike the last word. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:04One of the little known passages, sections, that snuck into this bill is the very last one,
00:14which is Section 70303, called Restriction of Funds.
00:20What it does is it makes it much, much more difficult for a judge to enforce a contempt order.
00:31Huh. Wonder why the Republicans are trying to do that.
00:36As two judges have threatened to hold the administration in contempt of court for defying court orders,
00:45now the Republicans, rather than encourage the President of the United States to follow the rule of law,
00:54to follow court orders, including a unanimous nine-to-nothing Supreme Court ruling,
01:01are actually trying to make it easier for the President to violate court orders and violate the law.
01:09And this is the Judiciary Committee.
01:11Most of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are lawyers themselves.
01:17Their entire careers have been around abiding by the rule of law.
01:24And now, rather than hold the President accountable,
01:30uphold our Constitution,
01:31uphold the fundamental rule of law that undergirds our entire system,
01:36no, they are trying to limit the ability of courts to enforce contempt orders.
01:46Now, contempt orders are just simply orders by a judge holding someone in contempt
01:53when they do not follow a court's order.
01:57So, when, for example, the administration continues to fly people who have had no due process to a terror prison in El Salvador
02:10after a judge has said,
02:14don't fly anyone there,
02:16that's a violation of a court order.
02:19And if that judge wanted to enforce that order,
02:21he would hold the administration in contempt.
02:24And if they do not comply with that,
02:27there are escalating penalties,
02:29financial,
02:30even potentially jail.
02:32So, that is what's going on right now.
02:36And the Kilmar Abregu-Garcia case is the best example of this
02:39because the Supreme Court has ruled unanimously.
02:43And let's be real.
02:45This is not a five-to-four decision
02:48that is hyper-partisan.
02:50This is the three Republican justices that Donald Trump appointed to the Supreme Court
02:56and two others who are so far to the right of them,
02:59they're off the reservation,
03:01agreeing that the administration violated due process
03:06and needs to facilitate the return of the person who was,
03:10they admit, mistakenly removed.
03:12What does Donald Trump say last night?
03:14I have the power to return him,
03:19but I am not going to.
03:22That is direct defiance of a Supreme Court order,
03:25a nine-to-nothing Supreme Court order.
03:28And you would think
03:29that my congressional friends on the other side of the aisle
03:33who take an oath to uphold the Constitution,
03:38who understand
03:39that Marbury v. Madison establishes
03:42that it is the courts,
03:44not the president,
03:46who gets to interpret the laws.
03:49It is the courts,
03:51not the president,
03:52who gets to determine
03:54whether someone should be deported or not.
03:58You would think that they would say,
04:00huh, let's make sure
04:02that our president is actually following court orders.
04:06Because if he's not following court orders,
04:10then why would anyone else follow court orders?
04:14And our entire system breaks down.
04:18That is clearly what Donald Trump wants to do.
04:20He wants to be a king
04:21who gets to make all of these decisions himself.
04:25He has already grabbed,
04:28willingly,
04:29all of Congress's power
04:31as a check and a balance
04:33on the executive branch.
04:34Now he's going after the courts.
04:37But instead of trying to uphold
04:40our system of checks and balances,
04:43my Republican colleagues
04:44want to make it easier
04:47for Donald Trump
04:48to disregard court orders.
04:51They are perfectly happy
04:53for Donald Trump
04:54to become a king,
04:56a dictator.
04:58And it is shameful
04:59that they put this clause in there
05:01to make it easier
05:02for him to defy court orders.
05:05And I yield back.
05:06Gentleman yields back.