One of the nation’s top presidential historians says that there is no historical precendent that Republicans can use to obstruct President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley was asked on CNN if there was any basis in fact or historical precedent for the Senate Republican plan to obstruct President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
Brinkley answered, “Well, of course not. That’s not in our U.S. Constitution, and that was the point President Obama was making from Rancho Mirage yesterday, that he’s doing his job. He has a vacant seat to fill. He plans to nominate somebody, and he wants the Senate to act responsibly. But as you intimated, this is a heavy political season. 2016’s one of the most brutal moments in partisan warfare in the recent annals of American history. So it’s unlikely the President’s going to be able to get anybody through this year. But he very well might be able to get a Senate hearing, particularly if he can get Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, you know, at least, the bucking Mitch McConnell crowd and saying, look, maybe we do, at least need to give — if Obama picks somebody — a public hearing, we’ll have to see on that.”
On Tuesday, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan claimed that there was precedent for Republicans obstructing Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, “The Supreme Court is not an extension of the White House. The president has absolutely every right to nominate someone to the Supreme Court, but Congress as an equal branch also has every right not to confirm someone. We are knee deep into a presidential election and I think the precedent for not filling a Supreme Court vacancy in such a time is justified. Democrats would be doing exactly the same thing if the shoe were on the other foot.”
There is no precedent for what Republicans are planning on doing. Senate Republicans are going to block Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, not on the merits of the candidate, but as a calculated partisan maneuver to prevent the President Of The United States from appointing a new justice to the Supreme Court.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other Senate Republicans will be violating their oaths of office and neglecting their duties under the Constitution if they refuse to allow a vote on Obama’s nominee. Republicans would rather cater to the shrinking base of their party than do their jobs.
The walls are closing in, and Senate Republicans are running out of excuses for taking the taxpayers’ money while refusing to fulfill their constitutional duties.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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