So with the caveat that all of this or none of this could happen, here are four scenarios that could make Senate Republicans switch course and consider Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, ranked in order of most to least likely.
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On “Fox News Sunday”, McConnell was asked about some Republican senators breaking rank and calling for a nomination, specifically Sen.
The White House said it would stand by President Obama’s nominee.
Biden responded after the video went public noting that he “presided over the consideration of Justice Kennedy, Reagan nominee, who was confirmed in a Presidential year”. But his Republican senators are not going to go over that cliff with him.
“For the first time in 214 years, [Democrats] have changed the Senate’s “advise and consent” responsibilities to ‘advise and obstruct”, McConnell said in 2005, when Republican George Bush was in office.
Or because President Barack Obama’s demonstrated contempt for the Constitution’s explicit text and for implicit constitutional manners justifies Republicans reciprocating with contempt for his Supreme Court choice, regardless of its merits.
Garland would replace Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, a strong conservative on the nine-member Supreme Court who died February 13.
“A lot of people think this nominee ought to be decided by the next president”, McConnell said in an interview on CNN.
“Well Sen. Kirk is a terrific senator”, McConnell said.
Republican Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Rob Portman of OH – who both face tough re-election contests this fall – as well as Susan Collins (Maine), James Inhofe (Okla.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah) have expressed an openness to meeting with Garland.
Then he noted: “And yet, 11 years later, you wrote this: ‘The Senate’s constitutional duty to give a fair and timely hearing and a floor vote to the president’s Supreme Court nominee has remained inviolable”.
The GOP’s front-runner is now Donald Trump – but McConnell predicted Trump wouldn’t be a drag on Republican candidates.
Think Progress contributor Ian Millhiser said this statement proves the idea of letting the people decide on a Supreme Court pick “is a sham”, and he is not entirely wrong.
So what happens if President-elect Hillary Clinton indicates she’ll nominate a more progressive option to the court? They’re not going to do it. As I told Merrick Garland, ‘This is going to break.
Meet Merrick Garland: Next Justice or Historical Footnote? .
Democrats are using the issue against Republicans facing re-election, hoping for leverage to retake the Senate after the November election.
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“The principle is the same – whether it’s before the election or after the election – the principle is that the America people are choosing their next president and the next president should choose this Supreme Court nominee”, McConnell said on “Fox News Sunday”.
