Top Senate GOPer Shoots Down Lame Duck Confirmation: ‘Makes No Sense’

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the Senate majority whip, arrives for hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel responsible for vetting judicial appointments, shortly after President Barack Obama announced Judg... Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the Senate majority whip, arrives for hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel responsible for vetting judicial appointments, shortly after President Barack Obama announced Judge Merrick Garland as his nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2016. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., repeated his steadfast opposition to holding confirmation hearing in the Judiciary Committee in Obama’s last months in the White House and made it clear in a speech on the floor that the GOP-led Senate will not consider Obama's nominee, Garland, but will wait until after the next president is in place. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said Thursday that considering President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, during the lame duck session after the election, as some Republicans have suggested, “makes no sense,” according to The Hill.

“I know there has been some members of the press who asked … how about in a lame-duck session of the Congress,” he said, according to The Hill. “I think that is a terrible idea.”

Both Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) have suggested they would be willing to consider Garland after the November election if a Democrat wins the White House.

Cornyn said such a move would not support Republicans’ argument that the next president choose the Supreme Court nominee.

“I, for one, believe we ought to be consistent, and that consistent principle is the American people deserve to be heard and their voices heeded on who makes that selection to something as important as filling this vacancy on the Supreme Court,” he said, according to The Hill.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Mr. Cornyn, I know you are an asshole supreme, but even you should know that the Republican Party itself has not made any sense since the years 1861 - 1865.

  2. Tax cuts for the super rich. Now THAT makes sense.

  3. the only Republican consistency is its consistent hypocrisy…

    WHOA!!!

    deja vu…

  4. OK, so it’s now obvious the golden age of unified dickishness is now over, to be followed by an extended period of random dickishness, on the way to the ultimate collapse the Republican Party. But I direct your attention to an editorial post here yesterday under the title “Reckoning”:

    The Republican party won’t go
    anywhere. The R-D two party system has survived for 150 years with a
    number different versions of each party operating under those labels.
    But I’m skeptical that we go back. And when there’s a break down in one
    party’s coalition that almost always destabilizes the other party too.

    Emphasis mine, I’m just putting it out there for comment. This was at the end of the article, and was never expanded on. What do you think is meant by this? Does anyone else think the dems are going to be thrown into chaos by the coming GOP implosion? Is that what this means? Is this about Sanders, or just a general foreboding?

  5. the political ecosystem will be out of balance if one of the big species goes extinct.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

23 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for austin_dave Avatar for ajaykalra Avatar for richardinjax Avatar for jw1 Avatar for mmurdoch Avatar for tomconoley Avatar for enon Avatar for sandyh Avatar for bluinmaine Avatar for senjaybulworth Avatar for chuck_voellinger Avatar for astralfire Avatar for maxaroo Avatar for andy49 Avatar for candirue Avatar for jcblues Avatar for pshah Avatar for tena Avatar for jonney_5 Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for mpower1952 Avatar for sickofitall

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: