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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reiterated Sunday that Democrats will not accept an extremist on the Supreme Court.
“If the nominee is not bipartisan and mainstream, we absolutely will keep the seat open,” Schumer told CNN’s “State of the Union.” […]
Schumer said he is prepared to fight "tooth and nail" should Trump not choose a mainstream nominee. Former President Barack Obama had nominated Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy. The Senate did not take up Garland’s nomination for a vote.
That tough talk is countered by equal bluster from Republicans.
“We’re going to confirm the president’s nominee one way or the other. And there’s an easy way and there’s a hard way,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas). “They just need to accept that reality.”
“The Democrats will not succeed in filibustering a Supreme Court nominee,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, Cornyn’s Texas colleague. “We are going to confirm President Trump’s conservative Supreme Court justices.”
By "the hard way" Cornyn is threatening to nuke the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. That's a way to try to convince eight Democrats that they need to buckle under and vote for whomever Trump nominates. Which is probably not going to work. Here's Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), up for re-election in 2018. Asked if he'll vote for any Trump nominee to preserve the filibuster, he replied "Hell no. I’m going to make sure the guy or gal is qualified to do the job." Likewise North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp: "You think I’m just going to hand them a vote not knowing who it is?"
Cornyn's threat might be an empty one, as some of the old men of the GOP Senate hold the filibuster close to the heart. But if you're relying on the likes of Orrin Hatch to hold on to principles, don't hold your breath. Here he was in November: "I’m one of the biggest advocates for the filibuster." Today: "I mean, [Democrats] set the standard. … They really screwed up the rules. Frankly, they did it for pure political purposes. The Republicans are not limited now." It's a dangerous game for them, doing all this for a Republican president going into office with historically low approval ratings.