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This is not exactly like my Christmas pipe-dream for Obama to have recess appointed Merrick Garland, but it’s something. As reported by Politico.
Senate Democrats are going to try to bring down President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick no matter who the president chooses to fill the current vacancy.
With Trump prepared to announce his nominee on Tuesday evening, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in an interview on Monday morning that he will filibuster any pick that is not Merrick Garland and that the vast majority of his caucus will oppose Trump’s nomination. That means Trump's nominee will need 60 votes to be confirmed by the Senate.
“This is a stolen seat. This is the first time a Senate majority has stolen a seat,” Merkley said in an interview. “We will use every lever in our power to stop this.
We’ve already had a sad taste of what kind of President Drumpf will be. From his flurry of incompetently planned Executive orders to his firing of the Acting Attorney General for following her conscience and her honest interpretation of the law and constitution, the last thing we need is to allow this man to have his way with the Supreme Court.
And this shouldn’t be news as Senator Merkley (D-OR) has been saying this for some time. He brought it up on November 10th, two days after the election.
More via Politico.
Merkley's party leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, has said he will fight "tooth and nail" any nominee who isn't "mainstream."
White House press secretary Sean Spicer responded to Democrats' plans by blaming them for playing "political games" and sending a "sad message" about how they will treat Trump's nominees — though he did not address the GOP's treatment of Garland, which is viewed by Democrats as a precedent-changing political tactic.
"Before they've even heard who this individual is, you've got some of them saying, absolutely no," Spicer said. "The default used to be, unless qualified, confirmed. And it is now going to, always no. And I think that's a pretty sad message."
It would be only the second time in modern history that the Senate has mounted a filibuster against a nominee. Democrats, including then-Sen. Barack Obama, tried to block the confirmation of Samuel Alito in 2006 but failed. Obama’s Supreme Court nominees each received more than 60 votes, but Republicans did not require a supermajority or the procedural vote that Merkley will demand.
I remember that filibuster against Alito. I remember 11 years ago when then Sen. John Kerry personally posted on Dailykos to call for that filibuster and how things dramatically changed once he did that.
Do I support a filibuster? The answer is yes.
Yesterday Senator Kennedy and I spoke with our colleagues about it. I don't have a shred of doubt in my opposition to Sam Alto's nomination. I know Senator Kennedy does not either. He has truly been a great leader in the effort to oppose Judge Alito.
I spent a lot of time over the last years thinking about the Supreme Court and who America needs on the highest court in the land. So I don't hesitate a minute in saying that Sam Alito is not that person. His entire legal career shows that, if confirmed, he will take America backwards. People can say all they want that "elections have consequences." Trust me, more than anyone I understand that. But that seems like an awfully convoluted rationale for me to stay silent about Judge Alito's nomination.
That post received 787 comments and the move to block Alito went from just two Senators, Kennedy and Kerry, to dozens. It inspired me, it’s part of why I continue to post because it showed the power that we had to affect and inspire others to change a situation that seemed completely impossible into what seemed quite plausible.
Just because we tried.
Ultimately 24 Democrats out of 44 stood up to oppose Alito, and although he did beat the filibuster he was rattled. We flipped over 20 Senators, that’s not nothing. There are even more reasons to block the first Trump nominee now than there were then to block Alito.
At 7:11 in the above video effectively after the interview is over, this happens...
Sen Jeff Merkley: We really have to pay attention to this Supreme Court seat. The seat that is sitting empty is stolen. It’s being stolen from the Obama Administration and the construct of our constitution. It’s being delivered to an administration that has no right to fill it. And we have to understand that this is about the Koch Brothers Cartel working with the Republican majority to say that they want to basically pack the court. I want to say that there’s no legitimacy to a supreme court justice that’s been stolen from one administration and given to another. We need to everything we possibly can to block it.
Yeah Boyeee…
What made the difference back then with Kerry was the American people rising up and bombarding the Senate with their calls and there voices. We need that again.
WE. NEED. IT. NOW.
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