How bad is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Supreme Court blockade for Republican Senate incumbents and candidates? So bad that one Republican hopeful, David Jolly, is running on the Senate doing its job, in defiance of McConnell's order.
WASHINGTON — Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.), who's vying for a Senate seat in November, broke from his party's messaging on Monday night and said Republicans should act on President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee this year.
"I do think he should have a hearing and I would like to see a vote," Jolly said in a debate with one of his Democratic opponents, Rep. Alan Grayson.
The Florida lawmaker also said if he were in the Senate now, he would meet with Obama's pick, Merrick Garland. "Of course," he said.
He didn't go so far as to say he'd vote for Garland. He couldn't do that since he's still in a primary. So he gave the standard GOP talking point—the only one they've been able to concoct against Garland—about guns. Still, he said, it's the Senate's job to give a nominee their consideration. "That's actually the proper exercise of the Senate's Article I authority," he said.
Huffington Post asked Mitch McConnell for a response on Jolly's comment. He didn't have one.
Please donate $3 today to help turn the Senate blue. The future of the Supreme Court depends on it.