Pollster Patrick Murphy said in a new interview with Hill.TV’s “What America’s Thinking” that Democrats have been more consistent than Republicans in their view that Supreme Court justices should have term limits.
“I think that Democrats tend to be more consistent. We would think that it depends on who’s in charge, whether there is a Republican or a Democrat president,” Murphy told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha in an interview that aired Thursday.
A new American Barometer survey found that 61 percent of Democrats said justices should serve for fixed terms, as opposed to having a lifetime appointment.
“Under [former President] Obama, it was still in the sixties that they wanted fixed terms,” Murphy, said referring to Democrats’ responses.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in July 2015 found that 66 percent of Democrats said they favored the idea of a 10-year term limit. The same percentage, overall, said they favored a decade-long term limit.
“The Republican number has gone down in your poll versus during the Obama administration, but not by a lot,” Murphy said.
The latest American Barometer survey found that 49 percent of Republicans polled said they were in favor of fixed terms, compared to 74 percent of Republicans polled in the Reuters/Ipsos poll who said they were in favor of a 10-year term limit.
The poll comes amid escalating controversy surrounding President Trump’s Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh.
His nomination process, which was thought to sail through the Senate, has started to derail in recent days following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
Three women have come forward publicly with allegations against Kavanaugh. He has denied each of those allegations vehemently.
He is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
— Julia Manchester
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