Judge Amy Coney Barrett shouldn’t recuse herself from any potential election litigation, despite requests from Senate Democrats, Sen. Ted Cruz said Tuesday.
Mr. Cruz said not having a full court could lead to a “constitutional crisis.”
“The entire reason the Senate should act and act promptly to confirm a ninth justice is so that the Supreme Court can resolve any cases that arise in the wake of the election. This election is a closely contested election,” the Texas Republican said after meeting with Judge Barrett on Capitol Hill.
“If we see multiple cases of challenging the election, if the court were to have only eight justices… a 4-4 court can’t decide anything,” he added.
On Sunday, several Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee called for Judge Barrett to recuse herself from any 2020 election cases for fear that it would give President Trump an unfair advantage.
Mr. Trump, who has been questioning the legitimacy of election results because of 2020’s spike in mail-in voting, said last week that he wanted his nominee confirmed, in part, to be ready to weigh in on any legal disputes.
None of the Democrats calling for her recusal, however, extended that demand to either Justice Neil Gorsuch or Justice Brett Kavanaugh, both of whom were nominated by Mr. Trump.
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