WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) exposed the radical judicial philosophy of Judge Mustafa Kasubhai, the Biden administration’s nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, and reacted to the Majority Leader delaying Judge Kasubhai’s confirmation vote after failing to rally enough support to confirm him. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.  

“For 13 years, I was a judge myself on the state court bench in Texas, so I have some strong views about the qualities that make for a good judge.”

“The Senate was expected to vote on Judge Mustafa Kasubhai, who was nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.”

“This nominee was so controversial that even a poor attendance day would not lead to his confirmation.”

“Judges have to set aside their personal beliefs and apply the law as written. Judge Kasubhai has proven that he cannot and will not do that.”

“In an interview a few years ago, Judge Kasubhai said, ‘We have to set aside conventional ideas of proof when we’re dealing with the interpersonal work of equity, diversity, and inclusion.’”

“Now, the standard of proof and what qualifies as evidence is things that you learn about in law school that’s applied to every single case. But now for the Judge to say we need to set aside those conventional ideas of proof when we’re dealing with equity, diversity, and inclusion sends a very troubling signal.”

“He later referred to diversity, equity, and inclusion as the ‘heart and soul of the court system.’ I would argue that the ‘heart and soul’ of our court system is pursuit of justice and equal treatment under the law, not pursuit of diversity for its own sake.”

“The fact that Democratic leadership can’t rally the votes among their own members says everything you need to know about this nominee. The American people—no matter where they live—deserve to have fair and unbiased judges on the bench, and they certainly deserve better than this nominee.”