Posted on 09/23/2020 7:52:03 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Total victory is upon us, folks. And some Republicans have managed to get on a path towards redemption with conservatives. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said he wouldn’t block the nominee. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is a ‘no,’ but as we’ve said before—Maine is an oddball state. She gets a pass. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a runner up in the biggest pain in the a** contest among the GOP, did initially say that she’s opposed to filling the Supreme Court vacancy left by Ruth Bade Ginsburg, but is now changing her tune. The last justice passed away last Friday making the 2020 election even more interesting. And now, Murkowski is changing her tune (via Alaska Public Media):
If Democrats were counting on Lisa Murkowski to vote against President Trump’s next nominee to the Supreme Court, they should think again.
Sen. Murkowski said Tuesday she could not rule out that she would vote to confirm a Trump nominee if the Judiciary Committee approves one before the November election.
“I know everybody wants to ask the question, ‘will you confirm the nominee?’” she said outside the Capitol, as her Republican colleagues were gathering for their weekly policy lunch. “We don’t have a nominee yet. You and I don’t know who that is. And so I can’t confirm whether or not I can confirm a nominee when I don’t know who the nominee is.”
Sen. Mitt Romney took a similar position Tuesday, so it looks nearly impossible for Democrats to block Trump from seating his third Supreme Court justice.
The other possible wild cards, Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Cory Gardner (R-CO), all said they’re backing the move to fill the seat.
That’s the ballgame.
And on the Democratic side, there could be a curveball hurled by Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV). Manchin voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, which was one of the most vicious Supreme Court fights in recent memory. This battle will make the Kavanaugh hearings look like Sesame Street. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said that liberals must make Mitch McConnell know he’s “playing with fire” with RBG’s seat. Mitch isn’t afraid of AOC. AOC is not in the Senate; stay in your lane, lady. You don’t get a say. As for Chuck Schumer, well, he’s threatening to use all the things to block this nomination, saying all options are on the table regarding retaliation. Many have come to see this as a court-packing threat. AOC even hurled impeachment threats against Trump and Attorney General William Barr in an effort to gum up the works. Nancy Pelosi has also said similar things (via Fox News):
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday would not rule out impeachment as an option to stop President Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court pick from being confirmed to the bench, saying Democrats will “use every arrow in our quiver” to block the eventual nominee.
Again, these clowns can rant. They can whine. They can say the vilest, nastiest things against us. But when they’re done. We’re going to fill this vacancy. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said they have the votes to get this out of committee. Mitch McConnell said there will be a floor vote. Romney is onboard. Murkowski is now a maybe. There are no loose ends. We have the votes and we’re going to get this done and there is nothing they can do to stop Trump from filling this seat. The Washington Post aptly noted that Democrats are pretty much “powerless” to stop this train:
Senate Democrats and their liberal allies confronted the grim reality Monday that they have no path to blocking President Trump’s pending Supreme Court nomination other than a political pressure campaign that peels away a minimum of four GOP votes.
Deep into their sixth year in the minority, Democrats can use some procedural tactics that might briefly slow the confirmation process, but if at least 50 Republicans approve of Trump’s pick to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, that nominee is certain to be seated.
[…]
“We’re in a situation where Mitch McConnell is the only person in this building that can decide when and whether and how to move the nomination forward. My hope is that there will be enough Republicans to stop it, but I don’t think the likelihood of that is high,” Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.) said.
Elections have consequences. We won. You lost, so prepared to be owned again.
Also, this will certainly help Senate Republicans running for re-election. Nothing unites the base more than a SCOTUS fight.
Oh, and please, Democrats, impeach Trump for doing his duty in appointing judges to fill a vacancy. I can’t wait to see how that quickly blows up in your face.
Do it! Please!
I double-dog dare you.
Not just committee seat, Senate SEAT, Trump had told her he would NOT back her, neck/neck with the Dem opponent.
Hearings are set for 3 days.
Not a snowball’s chance in hell.
And as far as the threat of expanding the SCOTUS to 15 by the Dims, Trump should say.....”That’s a great idea, we can do that over the next three months.”
That’s what SHOULD happen but I read McConnell gave an approx vote date of Oct 29!?!?!?
They never seem to get that part for some reason. I don’t understand the dynamics of Maine (I’ve never even been there) but I would assume she needs to motivate her base at least to some extent.
their constituents voted for them knowing that they were moderates at best. Don’t fool yourself. The voters in those States aren’t even close to electing a strong conservative. And an r column is better than one in the d column
What’s so unique about Maine that causes people to be more liberal? It doesn’t have big cities, you would think a more rural state should be more conservative. Or is it they are more dependent on government pork?
WWG1WGA
Turtle MUST schedule a vote ASAP...or he will slow walk until after the election so RINOs are free to vote ACB down.
It must be an odd place. They seem to tend liberal, but they want their liberals to be Republicans. Strange.
Maybe that very telling, years-old, pic of her and DiFi
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That pic came to mind immediately & my thought was ... maybe Murky has been able to deliberately avoid DiFi in the halls thus far. That pic was not a ‘good look’ & Murky doesn’t strike me as someone who wants to be seen as “intimidated”. As you said, she was probably ‘embarrassed’.
She does not care that much about her constituents, except in an election year. It just looked bad with even Milty on board with filling the seat. You don't want to appear left of Milt, with nobody else other than Susan Collins with you.
Utahns may not care about Trump, but they do care about the Supreme Court.
Suddenly, both Romney and Murkowski want to toe the line?
This sounds like something I haven’t heard of in years: Republican Party discipline. A very good thing. Assuming President Trump is reelected, and the Republicans recapture both the senate and the house, if they can keep their discipline, the Trump pt. 2 administration can hit the ground running.
I don't have a major issue with Collins saying that she's opposed to the hearings and voting no on those as long as she doesn't vote no on the nominee.
The polling that I've seen suggests that other than the progressive left, there is no groundswell of support for waiting for the next President to appoint. Collins has a difficult position in this election year and as much as I dislike her, she's better than the alternative. I'll cut her some slack if she does some political gamesmanship here.
Might as well pull the pin on a grenade and swallow it.
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