Free Republic

Senate Minority Leader-elect Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told “Fox News Sunday” that he would oppose efforts to build a wall and pressed for comprehensive immigration instead, saying “this idea of a wall, we already passed.” “And this idea of a wall, we already passed — John McCain and Chuck Schumer, bipartisan, an immigration bill that was comprehensive, that did a lot and was much tougher on the border than a wall would be,” Schumer said, referring to the failed immigration bill put forth by the Gang of Eight. …

Most Democrats want their party leaders to stand up to incoming President Donald Trump rather than work with him, says a new survey that reflects a deeply divided nation. Nearly two-thirds – or 65 percent – of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters agreed that congressional Democrats should “stand up” to the president-elect on issues important to Democratic supporters, “even if it means less gets done in Washington,” the Pew Research Center poll found. Just 32 percent want party leaders, who are now in the minority in the House of Representatives and Senate, to work with Trump if it means disappointing Democrats....

Come January, Republicans will control all three branches of government, but with only 52 Republicans in the Senate. That will not give them the 60 needed to break a Democrat filibuster. Appearing on various Sunday talk shows, Schumer was asked if Senate Democrats will filibuster Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, whoever it may be. “I would hope first and foremost that President Trump nominates a mainstream nominee capable of getting bipartisan support,” Schumer told Fox News Sunday.“If he does, then we’ll give it just a very, very thorough vetting, but we won’t ipso facto say no. If it’s out of the...

Republicans are vowing that President Trump’s appointment of a Supreme Court Justice to replace the late Justice Scalia will be confirmed no matter what Democrats do. Politico reports the unspoken threat underlying the GOP’s confidence is that, if necessary, they can end the Senate filibuster for confirmation: Republicans won’t come out and say it, but there’s an implicit threat in their confidence: If Democrats play things the wrong way, they might find themselves on the wrong end of a legacy-defining change to Senate rules that scraps the chamber’s 60-vote threshold to confirm Supreme Court nominees. “We’re going to confirm the...

Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned Sunday that Democrats would filibuster Donald Trump's Supreme Court candidates if they are not "mainstream." "If he doesn't nominate a mainstream candidate, we're going to go at him with everything we've got ... Because this is so, so important," Schumer said on NBC's "Meet the Press." While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had suggested doing away with the filibuster, Schumer said Republicans "don't come with clean hands, having delayed Merrick Garland for a whole year." President Obama nominated Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia, but...