Heritage Action is calling on Republican senators to block Hillary Clinton’s Supreme Court nominees for the entirety of her administration, according to a report from the Hill.
The group has warned the Senate GOP it will take “an immense amount of willpower,” but that it is essential to preserving the court.
During a meeting Thursday, Heritage Action’s spokesman Dan Holler reportedly praised Republicans who’ve said they’d work to block Clinton’s Supreme Court nominees indefinitely and warned that the obstruction of Obama nominee Merrick Garland was just the beginning of a much longer fight.
“You’ve seen John McCain and others talk about the need to not confirm any liberal nominated to the Supreme Court,” Holler said, according to the HIll. “That’s exactly the right position to have.”
He added that it was “unacceptable” for Republicans to approve justices who would move the court in a more liberal direction, the Hill reported.
So far, Republican senators have taken a range of positions on what should be done about the Supreme Court if Clinton is elected president. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), who is entrenched in a fierce re-election battle, said that “if Hillary Clinton becomes president, I am going to do everything I can do to make sure four years from now, we still got an opening on the Supreme Court.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said it would be an ongoing discussion, but added “there is certainly long historical precedent for a Supreme Court with fewer justices.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said in a radio interview he’d work to block any of Clinton’s picks before backtracking with a statement that he’d consider the qualifications of each before he’d reach a decision.
The issue has revealed a deep schism within the Republican Party with some Republicans refusing to take a stand at all like Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). Sen, Jeff Flake (R-AZ), meanwhile, has been leading a campaign to get Obama’s nominee confirmed in the lame duck.
The Republican Party’s position all this year has been that the next president should pick the next Supreme Court Nominee. It’s why Republicans didn’t move forward with Obama’s nominee for months.
But, as the campaign has heated up, it has been somewhat unclear whether calls to also block Clinton’s Supreme Court nominees permanently was just campaign rhetoric or an actual strategy. Heritage Action’s latest comments are sure to add pressure to Republican leaders and rank-and-file members who might have been on the fence about digging in their heels to block Clinton’s nominees throughout her presidency.
