It's Friday, April 29 and Day 83 since Justice Antonin Scalia died and Mitch McConnell laid down his Supreme Court blockade: No meetings, no hearings, no votes on his replacement. It's also Day 53 since President Obama named Merrick Garland to be Scalia's replacement. What's the Senate doing today instead of considering the Supreme Court nominee?
Nothing. They're on recess! Not working in the Capitol, though, can be a tricky thing for them. Witness Chuck Grassley's being forced to explain his totally unjustifiable blockade of President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. It could have gone worse for Grassley. He could have been asked about Donald Trump, again.
Not one to let any Republican senator dodge the Trump question, Democratic Leader Harry Reid is using his break to remind everybody that Trump is the albatross around every Republican senator's neck this cycle.
"The Republican Party has become a hollowed shell of its former self, and it's ripe for Trump's takeover," he told reporters during a conference call. "The Republican Party is Trump's Party." […]
Reid added that Republicans have "nominated an anti-woman, anti-Hispanic, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant billionaire." […]
"GOP senators say they trust the judgment of a man who defends rape, who calls women dogs and pigs, who spews hatred towards immigrants," Reid said. […]
Asked if he believes Trump at the top of the ticket will help Republicans in his home state, Reid fired back "the obvious answer is no. Not only no, but hell no."
The Senate is scheduled to be back in next week, giving Reid the opportunity to continue beating his Republican colleagues over the head with Donald Trump. So that will be fun. The Judiciary Committee might even do some work, though that won't include any hearings on any of Obama's nominees.
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