If you blinked you might have missed it.
After initially saying the Senate “should do nothing to artificially delay” the consideration of the next Supreme Court justice in the wake of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) now says a confirmation vote for President Trump’s next Supreme Court pick should take place after the 2018 midterm elections.
NBC News’ Garrett Haake captured Blumenthal’s original sentiment just before 3 p.m. ET:
Here’s the full quote for proper context: pic.twitter.com/Tt9qlZOI2o
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) June 27, 2018
By about 4 p.m., it appeared Blumenthal realized that was an untenable position:
The American people shld have a voice. A confirmation vote shld take place after a new Congress is seated. My Republican colleagues shld follow their own precedent.
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) June 27, 2018
A decision of this historic magnitude requires more deliberate consideration than is possible in the politically charged months between now&the election.
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) June 27, 2018
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) successfully blocked President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick following Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in 2016, arguing that the American people should have a voice in the choice by electing the next president.
TPM is rounding up Democratic senators’ positions on the precedent McConnell set here.