Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) engaged in a fiery exchange during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing discussing whether federal judges should have the authority to issue nationwide injunctions against a president’s policies.
The back-and-forth began after Cruz stated that Democratic senators remained silent as right-leaning Supreme Court justices faced harassment and violent threats. He pointed out that after a judge was killed in New Jersey, Republican and Democratic lawmakers worked bipartisan bill to protect judges.
“[Sen. John] Cornyn and [Sen. Chris] Coons, after the incidents you're talking about, got together and actually passed a bill to better protect our Supreme Court justices, many of whom are friends of ours,” Booker said. “Gorsuch and I disagree on a lot of stuff. I knew his wife before he did. We studied together at Oxford. This implication that there was silence when there were threats on their people's houses is absolutely absurd.”
Booker continued, saying that “to think that the lack of humanity when people’s homes are being threatened was not in existence, I think that’s unfair and it really concerns me that you would say that in the way that you did.”
Cruz countered, noting that there is already a law against protesting at a judge’s home.
The law provides whoever with the intent of interfering with, obstructing or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year or both.
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Cruz recalled how “Night after night after night, angry mobs were outside the Supreme Court Justice's homes, and in the entire course of it, the Biden Justice Department prosecuted nobody.”
We had the attorney general sitting at that table, and multiple Republican senators asked him, Why are you not enforcing the law? What they are doing is a crime. And my friend from New Jersey said, ‘It is a lie to say we, the Democrats, condone this.’ I would challenge my friend, find a single Democrat senator on this committee holding the attorney general to account for not enforcing this law.
Sen. Booker responded, saying he appreciated that Cruz had “shifted” his original allegation. “Again, we joined together in a bipartisan way, not only to condemn that, but to pass legislation to extend round-the-clock security protection. Literally days,” he said.
Cruz pressed the matter, asking Booker whether Biden’s Justice Department arrested any of those who protested at the Justices’ homes. “The answer is no,” Cruz said.
Booker responded, criticizing Cruz’s contention that Democratic senators on the committee didn’t care about protecting federal judges.
“I am sick and tired of hearing the heated partisan rhetoric, which is one of the reasons why we have such divisions in this country, Booker said. “The attacks we see from the President of the United States of America, trolling and dragging judges through is what we should be talking about that puts people in danger.”
The lawmaker added, “You said we were silent after people's houses were protested.”
That is a patent lie, sir. We were not silent. We took action. We joined in a bipartisan way to protect those judges, as was done in a bipartisan way to protect a New Jersey judge after their horrific attack at their home. So I see you now trying to shift the debate to whether we talk to an attorney general, I'm simply taking issue with this accusation that somehow we Democrats are so bad because we don't call out threats to our judicial colleagues.
Yet, Cruz pointed out that Booker “did not dispute the central point I made, which is the Biden Justice Department arrested zero people, prosecuted zero people for violating the criminal law, and every Democrat senator on this committee was silent about it.”
Cruz wasn’t done there.
I would also note that the Senator from New Jersey clutched his pearls about language-threatening judges. And yet I do not recall a single Democrat Senator of this committee saying a word when Chuck Schumer went to the steps of the Supreme Court and threatened the safety of the Supreme Court justices by name, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, and he said, ‘You have unleashed the whirlwind and you will pay the price.’ And not a single Democrat senator had a word to say about this.
Booker replied, noting that Schumer apologized for his comment the next day and chided Cruz for not having the same criticism for President Donald Trump’s rhetoric against judges ruling against his policies.
“I don't think Donald Trump would know an apology if it hit him in the head…So again, you are very, very, sir, very, very deep into the waters of hypocrisy in your criticisms of Chuck Schumer,” the lawmaker said.
Cruz then dropped the hammer, referring to Booker by a nickname he just can’t shake.
So let the record reflect that that Sparticus did not answer the question and did not tell us whether the criminal law should be enforced because he knows the answer is yes, and he knows that the Biden Department of Justice was being wildly political and partisan in refusing to enforce the law because they disagreed with the Supreme Court Justice's rulings.
🔥HOLY SMOKES: @tedcruz just TORCHED Democrat hypocrites for their two-faced virtue signaling about the judicial coup targeting President Trump!
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 3, 2025
"The number of nationwide injunctions issued in the first four months is greater than the entire 20th century, and is greater than all… pic.twitter.com/iJW9m8813d
Cruz’s point was apt — and it’s not surprising that Booker was unable to counter it. While there were some Democrats who condemned the protests and threats against right-leaning judges, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy was the only Democratic senator to speak out.
Moreover, the Biden administration refused to take any substantive action against those who harassed justices at their homes, which clearly shows that his Justice Department was hyperpartisan.
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