Under the Dome podcast: Deborah Ross on Congress’s freshmen, NC Supreme Court case

In this episode of The News & Observer politics podcast, Under the Dome, reporter Dawn Vaughan interviews U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, a Raleigh Democrat. Ross represents much of Wake County in Congress.

Ross talked about what it was like being inside the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the full arguments in North Carolina’s Moore v. Harper case. Here’s what she said about conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett:

“I will say of all the people who were asking the questions, I was very impressed with Amy Coney Barrett — on the law, and the facts and her willingness to tell the lawyer, Mr. Thompson, who was representing the legislature, when he got it wrong, she would just interrupt him and say, ‘Well, you got it wrong because of this.’ And I think she sounded more like Sandra Day O’Connor did, who was a very practical justice,” Ross said.

Ross also shared what she thinks are major legislative accomplishments by Congress, and what she thinks of the state legislature now versus when she served in the N.C. House in the early 2000s.

“When I was there, I was in the majority, the minority and it was equally divided ... And there is something that happens when people consolidate too much power for too long. I think that changing up the power structure is a good thing,” Ross said.

Ross also talked about North Carolina’s five new U.S. House members, who all previously served in the state Senate: Republican Chuck Edwards and Democrats Wiley Nickel, Don Davis, Valerie Foushee and Jeff Jackson. Ross and Nickel both represent parts of Wake County.

Ross said that legislators “just approach work in a different way.”

“We kind of know how things operate. Of course, it’s different in Congress than the General Assembly. But we’re familiar with the committee process. We’re familiar with how bills, you know, become law. We’re familiar with dealing with unpredictable stuff on the floor,” she said.

“And most legislators who go to Congress really want to get things done. And they’re not necessarily going to become social media stars. I have worked with all of them — Chuck Edwards, a little bit less. But they are people who are smart. They’re public servants. They understand the process,” Ross said.

Hear also what Ross said about the work of U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, as well as the member of the North Carolina congressional delegation who was her classmate in law school.

Be sure to listen to the end to hear Ross’ and Vaughan’s picks for Headliner of the Week, too.

Listen to our latest episode below and catch up on previous episodes. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Audible, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon Music and Stitcher.