Donald Trump said just hours after news broke that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died that the Senate should “delay, delay, delay” the confirmation of Obama’s nominee to replace him on the court. Now, Democrats are saying that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is following the Republican presidential frontrunner’s lead when it comes to blocking Obama’s pick.
“You know for Republican leaders this is a pretty simple choice,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) told reporters during a press conference on Capitol Hill. “Stand with the Constitution and the vast majority of people across the country who want a functioning Supreme Court or stand with Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and the tea party.”
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that they unanimously decided against holding hearings on the President’s pending Supreme Court appointment, something that Democrats say goes against Senate precedent.
Republicans argue that Obama’s successor should get to appoint the the next justice. But Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said that his colleagues on the other side of the aisle were simply heeding Trump’s call to “delay, delay, delay.”
Echoing remarks he made earlier in the day on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told reporters that he just wanted Republicans to “do their job.” He said he thought the Republicans’ position was untenable and further warned that Republicans were unprepared for the “pressure” they would face.
“Republicans have a right to vote ‘no’ on whoever the President nominates, but to not even give the nominee a hearing? It won’t stand,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) concurred. “They will have to back off their position with their tail between their legs.”
