It's Monday, June 27 and Day 135 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 98 since President Obama named Merrick Garland to be Scalia's replacement. What's the Senate doing today instead of considering the Supreme Court nominee?
Well, lookie here, a confirmation vote this evening because it's Monday—so we've got a 3 PM ET start time. The nominee in question is Omaha attorney Robert Rossiter Jr., for the federal bench in Nebraska. He's only been waiting one year and 15 days for this vote. Nothing else is scheduled for today, but the Senate's got a big, short week ahead.
All the senators are going to be champing at the bit to get out Thursday and start a long holiday weekend. But before they do that, they have to deal with the bill Paul Ryan shoved through in the House when trying to break the Democrats' gun safety sit-in. You remember that, the one poisoned with cuts to healthcare programs, relaxed pesticide rules, and punishment of Planned Parenthood, all masquerading as Zika funding? It will almost certainly be blocked by Democrats in the Senate.
Additionally, they are faced with a very tight deadline—July 1—for helping Puerto Rico avoid defaulting on a $2 billion debt payment. Its prospects are unclear, because the House version of the bill doesn't meet the transparency Senate Democrats want to see, and cuts Puerto Rico's own decision-makers out of a federal oversight board created by the House legislation.
What we're certainly not going to see today or this week is any movement on Merrick Garland's Supreme Court nomination.
Please donate $3 today to help turn the Senate blue. The future of the Supreme Court depends on it.