Sen. John Kennedy grills Biden judicial nominees on the Constitution, originalism
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked four Biden judicial nominees a series of questions on the Constitution and constitutional interpretation during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023.
President Biden is "proudly" sticking by his judicial nominee who couldn’t answer basic questions about the U.S. Constitution, the White House told Fox News Digital.
Biden nominated Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren to serve on the bench U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, who failed to answer Louisiana GOP Senator John Kennedy’s law school quiz questions about the Constitution.
Kennedy asked Bjelkengren what Articles II and V of the nation’s primary legal document do, which Biden’s nominee was unable to answer.
SEN. KENNEDY STUMPS BIDEN NOMINEE WITH BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION
President Biden nominated Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren to serve on the bench U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, who failed to answer Louisiana GOP Senator John Kennedy’s law school quiz questions about the Constitution. (Fox News)
Article II of the Constitution vests and enumerates the powers of the Executive Branch while Article V establishes the process for constitutional amendments.
Fox News Digital asked the White House if Biden sticks by his nominee who couldn’t answer the simple legal questions.
"Proudly," White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren of the Spokane County Superior Court in Eastern Washington. (Fox News)
Bjelkengren also could not answer what "purposivism" was, either, saying that in her "12 years as an assistant attorney general" and her "nine years as a judge," she "was not faced with that precise question."
"We are the highest trial court in Washington state, so I'm frequently faced with issues that I'm not familiar with, and I thoroughly review the law, I research, and apply the law to the facts presented to me," Bjelkengren said.
Purposivism, or the purposive approach, is a philosophy of interpreting the law that emphasizes the law's purpose — advocating for judges to enforce the spirit of the law when it contradicts with the text of the law, according to Harvard Law professor John F. Manning, writing in the Columbia Law Review. In contrast, textualists argue that judges must strictly adhere to the law's enacted text, when it is clear.
Kennedy asked Bjelkengren what Articles II and V of the nation’s primary legal document do, which Biden’s nominee was unable to answer. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Kennedy was unimpressed by Bjelkengren’s inability to answer his basic legal questions.
"Well, you're going to be faced with it if you're confirmed, I can assure you of that," Kennedy said.
Bjelkengren is a graduate of Mankato State University and received her law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law in 2000. She previously served as an assistant attorney general for the Washington Attorney General's Office.
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In 2013, Bjelkengren became an administrative judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings in Washington State.
In 2019, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Bjelkengren to the Spokane County Superior Court, and she became the first female African American judge in Eastern Washington.
Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed reporting.
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