It's Thursday, September 7, and Day 207 since Justice Antonin Scalia died and Mitch McConnell decided no nominee would get any Senate attention: No meetings, no hearings, no votes. It's also Day 176 since Merrick Garland was nominated by President Obama to fill that vacancy.
Yep, 176 days, the longest wait for a confirmation vote in modern history and there's no sign of Mitch McConnell or Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley relenting on their blockade. When forced to answer for it, the answer is always something like this: "The majority leader has been clear. The next president will make the nomination for this vacancy." Even if that president is Donald Trump.
So instead of being ashamed of their unprecedented bad performance on the job, they're doubling down. Actually, tripling down, because here's what's up next from Senate Republicans.
Two bills cracking down on ObamaCare's individual mandate are being fast-tracked through the Senate, setting up a potential election-year fight over the healthcare law.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) placed two GOP bills on the Senate calendar Thursday. The procedural move, known as Rule 14, allows the proposals to skip over the committee process.
Got that? They're "fast-tracking" Obamacare votes. Because that's their priority.
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