Posted on 06/29/2018 1:17:57 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell defended himself Thursday evening against claims that he is being hypocritical by pushing to confirm a new Supreme Court justice before the upcoming elections.
After Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, McConnell said on the Senate floor that legislators "will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy's successor this fall," which prompted an outcry from Democrats, who accused the majority leader of hypocrisy for not waiting until after the elections as he did when former President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland in 2016.
"Sen. McConnell set the new standard by giving the American people their say in the upcoming election before Court vacancies are filled," Democratic Minority Whip Dick Durbin said in a statement, according to CNN.
"With so much at stake for the people of our country, the U.S. Senate must be consistent and consider the President's nominee once the new Congress is seated in January."
"What I said in 2016 is that we shouldn't fill a Supreme Court vacancy in the middle of a presidential election year. The last time I looked, there's no presidential election this year," McConnell said on Fox News Thursday.
"And, in fact, three current members of the U.S. Supreme Court were completed in election years, non-presidential election years. And the president's nominee to the Kennedy vacancy will be confirmed in a non-presidential election election year," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Sleepy Ditch only seems to awaken when its SCOTUS time.
At this point, I’ll take it and rejoice.
All the news reader and 'rat pundits KNEW this when they made the public charge of hypocrisy.
I would like to think this is all smartly orchestrated.
credit where credit is due
McConnell was really good on Ingraham last night.
Confronting him and his wife at dinner (Thanks Maxine) didn’t hurt our cause.
It is driving me crazy the Dems keep making this statement (that McConnell is being hypocritical for moving forward in an election year). It is so easily proven wrong but they are counting on the media to keep stating the lie until the public believes it.
The Democrats badly miscalculated, as far as strategy with filibusters on Supreme Court nominees.
When Gorsuch was nominated, the Democrats launched a filibuster, which led to the nuclear option, doing away with the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees.
If they had held off the filibuster then, then the filibuster rule would still be alive, and they might have had some leverage here.
Gorsuch replacing Scalia was simply one conservative replacing another, so the balance of the court didn’t shift.
The Democrats would have been wise to hold off then, let Gorsuch be confirmed easily, and save the filibuster fight for a time like now, when the balance of the court could well shift away from them.
I’m no political operative, but in retrospect, it looks like they badly messed up.
And now they are saying that nobody Trump nominates can get their approval, not even be considered. So I assume all Dems. are automatic no votes.
Is this part of the Democrats strategy for the mid term elections, try to take hard lines everywhere, in the hopes of attracting more moderate or undecided voters to vote Democrat???
After the Dems assassinated Scalia, the plan was for Hillary to win and replace with Bill Maher.
but...
Yep, when McConnell decides to man up, he usually makes it stick, I’ll give him that.
Don't. There are Dems in Red States. The confirm vote will sink them if they thumbs down. Mitch is running this now having just had his wife threatened. I'm feeling pretty damn good right now old friend.
OK Turtle, then make sure Flake, Corker, Murkowski and Collins toe the line.
McCain is hopeless. Pence will be a tie breaker.
I think we have 3 Senators who I don’t think are going to let Trump pass his SCOTUS nominee before the election. McCain, Flake, and another whose name I can’t remember. I think Democrats are going to close ranks with no crossovers because of the wrath of Schumer and the Black Caucus.
Trump is definitely gaining black votes but not the type that are in Congress, those are the race hustlers who’ve done good, at least most of them.
Maxine should congratulate the protesters at McConnel’s house.
It is the least she should do.
The nuclear option is McConnell's best option...fall is too late to start the process...
Is this part of the Democrats strategy for the mid term elections, try to take hard lines everywhere, in the hopes of attracting more moderate or undecided voters to vote Democrat???
No, their strategy is to attract more radical hard left
activists.
My preferred explanation was that SCOTUS nominees require the consent of the senate, and the Republican controlled senate would not have consented to any nominee who Obama wanted.
But we sure can't be confident the Republicans would have rejected Garland Merrick, though they should have. Best thing Mitch has ever done.
I think the biggest Miscalculation was Ginsburg and Breyer not retiring during Obama’s term.
They thought Hillary was such a sure thing that it wasn’t a risk at all.
Big mistake. If one of these two kick the bucket, the Libs will not have any Court power for 30 years.
As it is with everything 'Rats do. Just take the recent krap about Trump ripping babies out of Crimigrant mommy arms as an example.
The process started over a year ago.
Trump is down to 5.
Says by July 10.
Senate can up or down vote after that, but the’ll dance for the public and then slam their fists down the democrats throat and pull their hearts out still beating.
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