Senare Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Tuesday night said that if Donald Trump does not select a “mainstream” Supreme Court nominee, Democrats in the Senate will do their best to keep the seat open.
“We are not going to settle on a Supreme Court nominee. If they don’t appoint someone who’s really good, we’re gonna oppose him tooth and nail,” Schumer told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “They won’t have 60 votes to put in an out-of-the-mainstream nominee and then they’ll have to make a choice: change the rules. It’s gonna be very hard for them to change the rules because there are a handful of Republicans who believe in the institution of the Senate.”
“We are not going to make it easy for them to pick a Supreme Court justice,” he added.
Schumer said that it is “hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we could support.”
Maddow then asked if Schumer would do his “best to hold the seat open.”
“Absolutely,” Schumer replied.
Watch part of the interview via MSNBC:
A handful of GOPers who can resist the opportunity to set the direction of SCOTUS foe the next 30 years in favor of the institution?
And this is the guy we’re expecting to lead the fight?
Has he learned nothing?
He’s counting on a handful of Republicans that realize that choices they make now will screw them over later. They play more of a long game. I know, it’s not a lot of them, but the turtle is one. That’s the reason, up to this point, they haven’t done away with the filibuster. In the end, they’ll get screwed over by it for a short term gain. Now, whether that handful can hold off the nutters remains to be seen.
Why do we even need a court in the first place? We can just have Rep. King just propose a bunch of laws.
Assuming you are talking about McConnell, I kind of have to disagree with you there. Filling SCOTUS seats and rest of the judicary down stream, are the main, perhaps only, reason that McConnell got on board the Trump train, however reluctantly. He is looking at being Senate Majority leader for 4 years, after which retirement will be a definite option…and he wants to leave a lasting mark that he can only achieve with a republican in the White House with a pulse and ability to sign a name. He has that now, and he knows that Trump is so shallow on matters of policy, that his judge picks won’t be made by him…ie, they will be people that McConnell wants to stay on the bench for 20-30 years.
That is THE defining notion in McConnell’s brain,and has been for some time. He isn’t going to be that concerned about lasting damage to the Senate institution by elimination of a filibuster, because he probably won’t be there after 2020, so it won’t be his problem.
I disagree. He’s the only Republican leader that Obama has publicly given what appears to be sincere respect after his re-election. I don’t get it either, but I’m going to trust that a little bit. That said, I’m not saying it won’t get overturned. I’m saying that’s what Schumer is trying to play. It’s a smart move for now and frankly, the only one we’ve really got.