In the last few days, the mainstream media has gone nuts because the GOP's Senate Majority Leader said that if President Trump nominated a new Supreme Court Justice in 2020, the Senate would move ahead with confirmation of him or her. "Oh the horror!" they all screamed. After all, in 2016, president Obama nominated Garland to Justice Scalia's seat and a McConnell led Senate didn't even consider his nomination.
The only proper response to this nonsense is a shrug. It's more Fake News. In 2016, McConnell said that it had been more than a century since the Senate had confirmed a justice in an election year when the president and the senate were under the control of different parties. All of the recent Fake News leaves out this different parties part of the old statements. In 2016 we had a Democrat president and a Republican Senate. In 2020 we will have both a Republican President and a Republican Senate. Voting on a nominee in such circumstances is quite commonplace.
Part of the reason here is pure politics, but the main point that was made by McConnell in 2016 makes sense. When the people have split the government so that it is unclear which way they want to see the country go, the confirmation process ought to wait until after the next election provides a clarification of what the people want. If there isn't divided government between the President and the Senate, then there is no reason to wait.
The only proper response to this nonsense is a shrug. It's more Fake News. In 2016, McConnell said that it had been more than a century since the Senate had confirmed a justice in an election year when the president and the senate were under the control of different parties. All of the recent Fake News leaves out this different parties part of the old statements. In 2016 we had a Democrat president and a Republican Senate. In 2020 we will have both a Republican President and a Republican Senate. Voting on a nominee in such circumstances is quite commonplace.
Part of the reason here is pure politics, but the main point that was made by McConnell in 2016 makes sense. When the people have split the government so that it is unclear which way they want to see the country go, the confirmation process ought to wait until after the next election provides a clarification of what the people want. If there isn't divided government between the President and the Senate, then there is no reason to wait.
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