Republican support for obstructing President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee is cracking as top Trump surrogate Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) called for hearings to be held on Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
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Christie said, “That’s what I’ve always said. I believe it’s the right thing to do. People can vote up or down however they choose, but hearing should be held.”
Gov. Christie’s call for hearings is the opposite position of the presidential candidate that he endorsed last week. At a recent Republican presidential debate, Trump said, “I think it’s up to Mitch McConnell and everybody else to stop it — it’s called delay, delay, delay.” Polls show that four incumbent Republican senators in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Hampshire are in danger of losing their seats if Mitch McConnell follows through on his plan to obstruct President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
According to The Washington Post, there is historical precedent for President Obama’s appointment of a new Supreme Court justice in a presidential election year, “The historical record supports that position: 14 presidents have appointed 21 justices during presidential election years. A half-dozen presidents, classic lame ducks, filled Supreme Court seats even though their successors had been elected….Aside from genuine lame ducks, one-third of U.S. presidents appointed justices during presidential election years. A handful were, like Obama, not running for reelection. George Washington, who established precedents that shape the office to this day, declined to run for a third term, but he added an associate justice and a chief justice during the election year of 1796.”
Republicans are making a losing argument that will cost them control of the Senate in November if they refuse to do their jobs and vote on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. The pressure is mounting on the GOP, and with each passing day, signs are growing that the Supreme Court fight is unifying Democrats while further fracturing the Republican Party.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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