Posted on 02/16/2016 2:58:44 PM PST by SeekAndFind
My first reaction to the death of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on February 13 was fear.
Was it the fear that Obama would get a liberal replacement on the Court? Or the fear that the political fight over the vacancy would hurt Republicans in November? I don’t know. Because the next thought I had was that the Republican Senate would never consent to an Obama nominee in this election year.
So when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that “the American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice,” he was merely confirming what I had already intuited. Any Republican senator voting for an Obama Supreme Court nominee would face the end of his career. Period.
Now pundits are talking about various approaches President Obama might take to nominating a successor. He might nominate a stick-it-in-the-eye liberal. Or he might nominate a Republican nominee that Republicans would find it hard to vote against. Or he might appoint a recess justice.
But I think that Obama’s nomination strategy is beside the point. For conservatives, the interim Supreme Court after Scalia tallies up as three conservatives and four liberals with Justice Kennedy in the middle likely to give liberals what they want in headline cases, as in gay marriage.
That’s bad enough. For President Obama to get another liberal on the Court means that the 4-3 Court becomes a 5-3 liberal court that does not need the vote of Justice Kennedy to pass its liberal agenda. For conservatives, that is a hill to die on. It doesn’t matter what the optics are, what the politics are, how the issue might tilt the November election. We cannot allow President Obama to flip the Court.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
If ever there were a battle to be fought to the bitter end, this one would be it. However, I have little confidence in the RINOs in the Senate.
How many votes are required for confirmation?
51.
RE: How many votes are required for confirmation?
Senate confirmation requires a simple majority of 51% of those voting. Marco Rubio (yes I’m talking to you) and Ted Cruz better be present when this crucial vote comes along.
RE: 51.
Actually 51% of those who are present to vote.
Can Congress reduce the number of SC Justices to 8 (or 7 and get rid of Kagan)?
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