Lawrence O’Donnell laid out the precarious state of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee and how it all could go down in flames.
Video:
O’Donnell said:
Jeff Flake is a member of the senate judiciary committee. There are 11 Republicans on the senate judiciary committee and ten Democrats. So it takes only one Republican vote against a nomination in the senate judiciary committee to defeat that nomination in the committee. And so, if Jeff Flake doesn’t back down and stays true to what he said before justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, Jeff flake can be the senator who stops the next trump nominee to the supreme court. Normally a nomination that is defeated in the committee dies in the committee. That’s the end of it. But in this case, the nomination would still go to the Senate floor. Mitch Mcconnell would still bring it to the Senate floor with the report, technical report that the Judiciary Committee voted against it.
But that wouldn’t bind the Senate floor. It would go to the Senate floor with one Republican voting against it. And that would give plenty of encouragement and political cover to the three Democrats who might be inclined to vote for the nomination. By that time there might be enough pressure on Republican senator Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski to vote against a judge that would overturn Roe versus Wade. They’re the only two pro-choice Republican senators. So if Jeff flake does not back down from what he said he would do to block trump judges before he knew that one of the judges he would have to block would be a supreme court justice, then Jeff Flake could create a dynamic situation on the Senate floor where anything could happen. The Democrats might be able to hold all of the Democrats then in opposition to a trump supreme court nomination. And then, on the Senate floor, it would only take that one Republican to kill the nomination. And if Jeff flake is that one Republican, he would then leave the United States Senate with a very important place in history.
It only takes one senator
Democrats, and every single American, need to remember that it only takes one Republican Senator to kill this nomination. The fifty GOP Senators who are able to be on the Senate floor right now each have the ability to kill the nomination, which is a very unstable position for any nomination to be in, especially in this Republican-controlled Senate. Trump and McConnell’s push to get the nominee confirmed before Election Day could easily fall apart.
This is not a done deal, which is why Lawrence O’Donnell was correct. The American people must fight, and fight hard to make sure that no vote on Trump’s nominee is held before the November election.
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Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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