Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican presidential hopefuls have wasted no time politicizing the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia with vows to obstruct and even deny a hearing to any nominee that President Obama puts forward to replace him.
To help remind McConnell and Paul (both of Kentucky) of the job they were elected to do, Americans United For Change released an explainer video ‘How Long Is A Presidential Term Anyways?’’
The Republicans promising to keep a seat on the highest court in the land empty until God knows when in 2017 seem to believe the Constitution only applies to them when it’s politically convenient.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it say the President should refrain from exercising his or her authority to fill a Supreme Court vacancy when it’s an election year.
If Mitt Romney had been elected in 2012 instead of Barack Obama, Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz wouldn’t be saying that either. Republicans who say ‘who cares’ that the President has 11 months left in his term will tell you that presidential elections matter — except for the last one, and the one before that.
These same Republicans often claim their principles are guided by a strict adherence to the Constitution, but apparently all that goes out the window when they feel their agenda is at risk.
The GOP can’t ignore the Constitution any more than they can rewrite history. Any Republican who says there’s no precedent for confirming a Supreme Court nominee during an election year obviously hasn’t bothered to Google it. The fact is six Supreme Court Justices have been confirmed in presidential election years, including three appointed by Republican Presidents. Most recently, Justice Anthony Kennedy was nominated by President Reagan and confirmed by a Democratic-controlled Congress in 1988. Not to mention, the last 12 nominees to the high court were confirmed in under 100 days. Bottom line: Barack Obama is still the President and the Constitution says it’s his job to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, just as President Reagan did ahead of the ’88 election.
Disturbingly, Senator Rand Paul agrees with Mitch McConnell’s insistence that no one President Obama nominates should even be considered before the Senate, no matter how qualified they are. If Abraham Lincoln were alive today and nominated, they wouldn’t even give him a hearing.
Mitch McConnell doesn’t even agree with himself on the matter, having held the the opposite view in 1970 when Nixon was President:
“The Senate should discount the philosophy of the nominee. […] The president is presumably elected by the people to carry out a program and altering the ideological directions of the Supreme Court would seem to be a perfectly legitimate part of a Presidential platform.”
Senators McConnell and Paul should listen to their Republican colleague Senator Thom Tillis who admits it would be “obstructionist” of their party to deny a fair hearing to whoever the nominee is.
If Senators McConnell and Paul are truly committed to the Constitution, they should prove it by doing their job so that the Supreme Court can do theirs.
That means holding a fair hearing and an up-or-down vote for any qualified nominee the President puts forward. If Republicans choose to shirk their fundamental constitutional duty, it would be the first time in the history of the Republic has the Senate refused to give a Presidential Supreme Court nominee a hearing.
That would be a national disgrace, one that would certainly not please the court of public opinion on the Republican Party. Senator Paul is welcome to make that case to voters for holding a U.S. Supreme Court seat hostage, but he’d surely be found guilty of political malpractice.
Brad Woodhouse is president of Americans United for Change.
In my very brief encounter in lawmaking in another state I learned it is better to compromise on a bill that you can live with rather than be forced into something you can’t. Republicans need to start thinking compromise. Their obstructionist approach will not be looked on kindly by the general electorate (teaparty excepted) and will negatively affect their success in the November election. It could very well get worse for them. I think the President will nominate a very well seasoned middle of the roader for the Supreme Court and the senate Republicans should ultimately approve him/her. Regardless of what the Republicans do, I think there is a very good chance of a Democrat victory in the presidential election and also regaining a majority in the Senate. Goodbye Mitch!