Senate Dems declare war over Supreme Court nomination
Democrats rightfully point out that obstructionist Republicans essentially stole President Obama’s Supreme Court nomination from the American people.
It’s also the most important part of a broader leadership effort to delay and derail Trump administration initiatives and nominees. Democrats protested all over Capitol Hill on Tuesday. But whether they can keep the Senate’s 46 Democrats and two independents unified is another matter, since 10 Democrats are up for re-election in 2018 in states Trump won.
Party leaders, backed by an array of sympathetic interest groups, are on the march. Lawmakers and activists rallied at the Supreme Court on Monday night to protest Trump’s immigration order.
Tuesday, Senate Democrats boycotted a Senate Finance Committee meeting held to consider the nominations of Steven Mnuchin for Treasury secretary and Tom Price for Health and Human Services secretary.
…
The big battle will involve the Supreme Court, and the mobilization was in full swing Tuesday.
Democrats have been steaming since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused last year to even hold a hearing for President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland. The Kentucky Republican is now demanding that Democrats allow Trump’s nominee an up-or-down vote.
“The same groups on the left who always seem to say the sky is falling when a Republican president puts forward a Supreme Court nominee are saying it’s falling again,” he said. “Only this time, they’re saying it before we even have a nominee.”
Eager for this fight are Schumer, the newly installed Senate Democratic leader, who is facing his first tests, and a savvy array of liberal groups that plan to apply intense pressure to anyone willing to work with Republicans to vet Trump’s Supreme Court pick.
Senator Jeff Merkley pledges a filibuster against Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch:
“This is a stolen seat being filled by an illegitimate and extreme nominee, and I will do everything in my power to stand up against this assault on the Court,” Merkley said in a statement.
Merkley called Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, a federal judge, “a far right extremist.”
https://twitter.com/SenJeffMerkley/status/826610724516552704
Senator Elizabeth Warren will also oppose Gorsuch:
“Based on the long and well-established record of Judge Gorsuch, I will oppose his nomination,” Warren said in a statement published on her Facebook page.
The Democratic lawmaker justified her position by pointing to Gorsuch’s views on corporations, civil rights, women’s rights and other social issues.
“Before even joining the bench, he advocated to make it easier for public companies to defraud investors. As a judge, he has twisted himself into a pretzel to make sure the rules favor giant companies over workers and individual Americans,” Warren argued.
“He has sided with employers who deny wages, improperly fire workers, or retaliate against whistleblowers for misconduct. He has ruled against workers in all manner of discrimination cases. And he has demonstrated hostility toward women’s access to basic health care,” she added.
Warren also blasted Trump for his failing to “select a consensus nominee ” to the high court.
Senator Amy Klobuchar is also all in; she
… reminded her Twitter followers on Sunday night that Supreme Court nominees can still be blocked by the Senate minority, unlike all other executive and judicial nominees.
Any senator can object to swift approval of a nominee and require a supermajority. Asked directly whether he would do that, Merkley replied: “I will definitely object to a simple majority” vote.
Sen. Bernie Sanders was restrained in his comments, but reading between the lines, he’s ready to grill Gorsuch:
“The Supreme Court plays an enormously important role in American life. Unfortunately, in recent years, that role has been largely negative,” Sanders said in a statement sent to Bustle. “I look forward to questioning Judge Gorsuch about his positions on the most important issues that impact Vermonters and all Americans and his views on recent Supreme Court decisions.”
At USA Today, activist Jason Sattler is encouraging Senate Democrats to dig in and fight back to protect reproductive liberty:
Republicans clearly understood the stakes of the 2016 election. Now the rest of America is starting to get it, possibly because things like “travel bans” and the prospect of millions losing insurance have to be experienced to be believed.
Roe v. Wade is an extraordinarily popular ruling. It’s almost as popular as Trump and Pence put together, with 7 out of 10 Americans backing it in a recent Quinnipiac poll. And the institution that best reflects the physical incarnation of that decision — Planned Parenthood — is nearly as popular. Those who support continuing funding the reproductive health care non-profit outnumber those who don’t, 2-to-1.
Even if Democrats sat out 2018, the midterm elections will largely be about these two issues for the right, as they have been for at least a decade. So let’s stop shying away from a fight we can win.
Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2017 Liberaland
By: dave-dr-gonzo
David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.
* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.
35 responses to Senate Dems declare war over Supreme Court nomination
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
mea_mark February 1st, 2017 at 10:08
The SCOTUS shouldn’t be a tool for misogyny. Every effort needs to be made to block Gorsuch. The longer the fight lasts the better. Who knows, maybe it can be stretched out until the next election. Failing that we might just have to change how the SCOTUS works and scrap it in it’s present form. If the SCOTUS can’t operate for all the people fairly, then we don’t need it.
anothertoothpick February 1st, 2017 at 10:37
The rebups must have bought a dictionary.
All of a sudden they know what the word “obstruction” means.
It’s like, amazing!
Mike N. February 1st, 2017 at 11:17
I hope they delay scotus confirmation hearings for the same 296* days the repubs stalled to steal Obama’s seat.
*Can’t remember the number of days off the top of my head but I think that’s it.
anothertoothpick February 1st, 2017 at 12:37
Close enough.
I like your style.
oldfart February 1st, 2017 at 10:44
“since 10 Democrats are up for re-election in 2018 in states Trump won.”
Stand up for your country and your constituency or get the hell out of Dodge…
mea_mark February 1st, 2017 at 10:53
Really. If you want to win in 2018 you need to fight like you mean it, now. The dems being the party of the middle that kisses the ass of the oligarchy has to end. It’s time to fight for what makes things better.
Suzanne McFly February 1st, 2017 at 17:43
I would take that to mean that if they get up and fight, they will win in a damn landslide.
William February 1st, 2017 at 11:17
….and now the good news. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5efab24e2bb77b64bcd468f9ccb37c645e07720533cf2ed1529b376c10346d9e.jpg
Suzanne McFly February 1st, 2017 at 17:42
Ahhh William, great news!!!! Thanks for making me finally smile :) I hope this comes true.
Gina Bousquet February 1st, 2017 at 11:38
The GOP voted on Trump’s picks without Democrats! They broke a rule of democracy. Useless to expect they curb Donald’s insanity in any matter, it seems.
amongoose February 1st, 2017 at 13:16
They changed the rules just like Harry did.
This was a shot across the bow, filibuster and they may do the same again.
Don’t remember Repubs. boycotting Obama’s appointees in committee meetings.
Gina Bousquet February 1st, 2017 at 13:24
You don’t remember Republicans’ boycotts? Really? They only obstructed O. for eight years…
amongoose February 1st, 2017 at 13:41
Show me when they boycotted committee meetings to shut the process down. That was the problem, not their opposition.
.
Both of you have poisoned the atmosphere with rabid partisanship that this is what it has come down to.
Bunya February 1st, 2017 at 13:51
Rabid partisanship???? Where have you been for the last eight years when the republicans obstructed EVERYTHING the black guy in the White House put forward?
Rabid partisanship. The republicans wrote the book on rabid partisanship.
amongoose February 1st, 2017 at 14:24
Did you miss the “both of you”?
Bunya February 1st, 2017 at 15:23
“Did you miss the ‘both of you’?”
.
No. Were you on another planet during the Obama administration?
Gina Bousquet February 1st, 2017 at 13:54
You can only sound ridiculous after eight years of obstruction and the unprecedented denial to hear the appointee for SCOTUS
whatthe46 February 1st, 2017 at 14:03
selective amnesia i see. remember cruz shutting down the govt. b/c he was pissy about obamacare? and maybe the words from the rethugs will refresh your memory on obstruction. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/28b275a5058fa4e2b5bb734a8d8e973e6457ebb2e61f1fef568a18cd711f07b5.jpg
Ned Nutley February 1st, 2017 at 15:28
The black guy with the funny middle name BEAT THE BEST THEY HAD TWICE! LOL
bpollen February 1st, 2017 at 16:04
“Both of you have poisoned the atmosphere with rabid partisanship…”
8 years versus 12 days. Yup, they are the same level of obstruction.
robert February 1st, 2017 at 15:10
No worries about a war Even Trump’s zero tolerance with Iran just took a vacation
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.usatoday.com/story/97352012/
Ned Nutley February 1st, 2017 at 15:30
TIME FOR SOME DEMOCRATIC OBSTRUCTION! please block
everything they want to do, after all the years of
their petty schoolyard bully behavior, give them
a taste of their own medicine!
allison1050 February 1st, 2017 at 17:49
Tillman was voted in today with the help of 3 Dems and Angus King.
allison1050 February 1st, 2017 at 17:48
Whatever, Schumer can’t even hold the line with Tillman’s vote today. For every Dem that has that breaks the line indicates their more interested in saving their seats than the country..just like the Repubs.
The Original Just Me February 2nd, 2017 at 01:34
That is why I went Independent years ago.
allison1050 February 2nd, 2017 at 09:00
Sounds like a plan to me.
The Original Just Me February 2nd, 2017 at 23:05
Kennedy was the Last REAL Democrat. Well, Carter at least Cared but He had no backing. The rest of today’s ” So Called Democratic Leadership ” just want to hold fund raisers and Blow Off The Working People.
allison1050 February 3rd, 2017 at 06:39
You’ve nailed it!
The Original Just Me February 3rd, 2017 at 13:45
Not for many years . LOL :+) Go ahead and enjoy your warm weather. See if I care. I’ll just sit here and FREEZE !!! It is Sllooowwwwllllllyyyyy warming up. :+)
allison1050 February 3rd, 2017 at 19:39
It almost reach 70 today! ;o)
dogsRgoodpeople February 1st, 2017 at 18:51
would have been great had they been this outraged over the last 25 years . they are probably wasting their time fighting this appointment. The Punk will just appoint someone worst out of spite.
The Original Just Me February 2nd, 2017 at 23:02
They will hold a Cocktail/Fund Raiser Party. Hold their little Pinkies in the air while sipping their cocktails. They will talk all Bigley like and the go home and DO NOTHING.!
The Original Just Me February 2nd, 2017 at 01:33
The Democrats are a Bunch of Whimp Asses that can’t put their High Faluting Cocktail glasses down long enough to do ANYTHING But Talk BIGLY.
Mensa Member February 2nd, 2017 at 23:11
Real democrats Use RANdom caps WHEN they Write.
The Original Just Me February 2nd, 2017 at 23:24
I am an Independent so I can Ramble and Yell all I want. LOL :+)