Posted on 11/19/2016 2:06:23 PM PST by Kaslin
Anybody remember Merrick Garland? Yeah… he was that guy nominated by Barack Obama to fill the empty Supreme Court seat. You may have thought that the issue was dead in the water, particularly with a Republican president on the way in, but there was actually a court case pending which sought to force the Senate to vote on his confirmation. As it turns out, that was met with the same level of success as Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. (Washington Post)
Merrick Garland’s last, long-shot chance at being confirmed as a Supreme Court justice has now vanished: A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a case that sought to force the Senate to take up his nomination.
Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, has languished without Senate action since March, when President Obama nominated him to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia. A New Mexico lawyer filed suit in August, seeking to force Republican leaders in the Senate to act on the nomination, arguing that they had “created a constitutional crisis that threatens the balance and separation of power among our three branches of government.”
As is so often the case in politically motivated lawsuits, the Judge – Rudolph Contreras – didn’t dismiss the suit brought by Steve Michel because it was an improper request, unconstitutional or just plain stupid. It was shot down because Michel didn’t have standing to make the claim of having suffered an individualized injury from the Senate’s refusal to confirm the nominee. In the end, the judge saw it as yet another political spat which didn’t belong on the courts.
“This alleged diminution of his vote for United States Senators is the type of undifferentiated harm common to all citizens that is appropriate for redress in the political sphere: his claim is not that he has been unable to cast votes for Senators, but that his home-state Senators have been frustrated by the rules and leadership of the United States Senate. This is far from the type of direct, individualized harm that warrants judicial review,” Contreras wrote.
This suit never had a ghost of a chance from the beginning. The only way Garland was going to make it to Scalia’s seat was if the Senate confirmed him and the GOP made it clear from the beginning that there would be no action taken until after the election. Now we’ve reached the point where even if the Senate did agree to give him a look, the confirmation hearings alone would eat up far more of the calendar than the lame ducks have left this year.
The better question is who they will be considering in January as one of their first orders of business. The Daily Caller recently narrowed it down to five people who are likely to be the favorites. The names include Raymond Kethledge, William Pryor, Don Willett, Diane Sykes and Ted Cruz. Going by some of Trump’s previous comments on the subject it won’t be surprising if Willett is the pick, but Sykes and Cruz are both highly interesting. Sykes sits on the Seventh Circuit bench, carrying a reputation for strict originalism and not being too tightly caught up in stare decisis as binding her course of action. Cruz would, of course, drive the Democrats insane and likely prompt an immediate need to nuke the filibuster, but holds a few advantages for Trump. As some of us were discussing on social media the day his name popped up anew, his qualifications on paper for such an appointment are pretty much beyond question. But at the same time, he might carry another advantage for Trump. If the first four years are rocky, Cruz could turn out to be a thorn in Trump’s side and a possible primary challenger in 2020. Dumping him onto the Supreme Court could solve a couple of problems with one stroke of the pen.
Still, as with the rest of the appointments to be made, I’ll take Trump at his word. He’s the only one who knows who the finalists really are and we’re just playing parlor games until he comes out and makes it official.
It won’t be Ted. Trump promised to pick from his list of 20 and Ted isn’t on it.
I wonder about Cruz. Until a few months before he announced he run for the presidency, he apparently didn’t even know he was Canadian.
Surely, somewhere along the way in his education or early jobs or such, he had to produce a birth certificate.
Maybe he isn’t so sharp.
Ted Cruz is a great man. I hope he continues to be a conservative leader in the cesspool known as the US Senate, where he needed.
More BS about Lyn’ Ted. He has ZERO chance of any court seat or of any public role. He needs to resign and find a new, private career. People that keep wanting to throw his name out need to reflect that he lied about his citizenship, told truth then lied about is eligibility, lied about finance sources of his senate campaign, lied about his insurance, etc. Further, look at his association with Glen Beck, his kids that shrink from his, his wife that takes off and picked up on highway in mental breakdown (maybe for having to deal with him?). If Lyn’ Ted had any self-respect, he’d resign, get help, mend his family, and maybe return to Canada or Cuba.
Yup. And Cruz was well-known of being a maverick rightwinger in a sea of stupid idiot liberals. I know the feeling: i work in Hollywood.
“Also vacant are 81 U.S. District and 13 Appeals court seats to be filled by Trump.”
Which members of the Judicial Branch can be asked to resign by the President?
Agreed
See #44
Bookmark
LOL, get a grip and stop fighting a primary you already won.
Trump vanquished Cruz and won the nomination. Now, he has sent Hill packing. These accomplishments were achieved with the full support of Cruz' voters.
You won! But you seem unable to celebrate.
Instead, y'all still have a hard-on for Cruz and his supporters. Something in your life is unresolved, compelling you to recite old insults and repeat old arguments -- no matter how specious.
Do you miss your blanky...???
I agree, and I was one of his fans. By failing to endorse Trump immediately after the nomination, Cruz put his personal feelings above his country's future. That was just unacceptable. The risk is too great that Justice Cruz would quickly "grow in office" to sabotage Trump.
You got that right! He could have easily been on the list but failed miserably in his test of loyalty. He came around much too late.
“malignant narcissist”
I agree and being an active Republican in the D.C. area. I’ve heard a lot accusations that Ted was brat. Thought it was said becuz the people it filtered down from were Rhinos. Changed my mind a bit during the primary process.
On the other hand, listening to him many of the times when he was on the Senate floor, reading his newsletters for a few years, he is a hard core Constitution conservative.
The way I look at it, a bratty narcissist wanting to get his way to protect the Constitution on the Supreme Court. More power to him!!!!!
I think he would set Sotomayor, Ginsburg, Kagan on their ear.
Ted’s not on the list of the 21 proposed SCOTUS appointments.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not sure how Trump’s brain works, but mine tells me NEVER to trust Cruz or Mittens or any of the other NeverTrumpers.
Cruz is a globalist. I did not bash him. I agreed with the fact he is not on trumps list. I don’t want him
The need to tell me what a great man he is indicates some deep psychological need on your part
No offense intende -- I wasn't addressing you. You were on the copy list on the post I was responding to.
Big fan of Cruz mostly because of his attempts to shut down the government. I have always thought of him as an anti-RINO. I cannot understand conservative peoples’ patience with our enemies Romney and McCain. The forces behind their candidacies have been vanquished with the help perhaps of Cruz and certainly of his supporters.
Having said that, I must echo your thought and express my agreement with you: “Cruz put his personal feelings above his country’s future.” This is unacceptable.
It does not follow necessarily that he will sabotage Trump. But Romney and McCain certainly will if given half the chance.
Garland never had a chance anyway. He apparently has an occasional rational thought, making him unacceptable to the majority of leftists.
Trump’s brain works real well. Therefore, we can be at ease and realize that P.-e Trump would never trust Cruz or Mitt or any of the other NeverTrumpers.
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