Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s original insistence that he would not bring Mr. Obama’s choice to the Senate for a hearing during the 11 months remaining in his presidency has already caused some concern among Senate Republicans, who sense possible voter pushback in the 2016 election. But 56 percent of Americans, including almost 30 percent of Republicans, disagree with his assessment, according to the Pew Research Center poll released Monday. The president of the United States has the obligation to nominate justices whenever there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court.
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The two GOP leaders wrote the opinion piece for The Washington Post, noting that the President has the right to nominate a person while the U.S. Senate has authority to “provide” or “withhold” its consent to a nominee. In both states the numbers are identical- 52% of voters say they’ll be less likely to vote for either Portman or Toomey this fall if they refuse to confirm a replacement for Justice Scalia no matter who it is, compared to only 25% who say taking that stance makes them more likely to vote for them.
Antonin Scalia’s colleagues honored the late Supreme Court justice Monday in a manner he would surely have approved, in sharp exchanges and aggressive questions during the court’s first session since Scalia’s death. “I’m not about to break new ground in the Senate, particularly when any nominee could so drastically shift the balance of the court”.
Of course, politics have often played a part in Supreme Court nominations. But the White House pushed back, arguing that the GOP is using unparalleled obstructionism to try and preserve the court’s conservative majority. In it, they note that it is “unthinkable that members of the Senate and candidates for the highest office of the land would desire to put on hold for nearly a year the fulfillment of urgent presidential and constitutional obligations”. They discussed Sandoval’s interest in a nomination, and sources familiar with the discussion say Sandoval is interested in the nomination, but Reid is not pushing the idea on him. Thus, President Obama would be abdicating his duty were he not to nominate someone to fill the vacant seat. In our view, refusal even to take up an Obama nomination disrespects the Constitution.
Less than three years ago, when Democrats ran the Senate, they invoked the “nuclear option”, unilaterally changing practices so that the minority party couldn’t use a filibuster to block presidential nominees for key appellate judgeships. “This is the approach I have taken with every judicial nominee who has come before me, some of whom I have supported and some of whom I have voted against”.
Republicans have countered with Democratic Sen.
Democrats have targeted vulnerable Republican incumbents in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Since 2000, the Supreme Court has decided 12 search and seizure cases by a vote margin of 5-4. She tweeted, “W/ so much on the line, Senate should not proceed w confirmation process until American ppl have spoken by electing a new president in Nov”.
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Collins noted that during the administration of President George W. Bush, tensions often arose over judicial nominations.
