jhu72 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 22, 2020 3:14 pm
njbill wrote: ↑Tue Sep 22, 2020 2:44 pm
The big constitutional mistake McConnell made with Garland is that he refused to allow hearings and a vote. To my mind, that was illegal. The constitution required the Senate to advise and consent. McConnell illegally blocked the Senate from doing so.
Had McConnell allowed hearings and a vote, and had Garland then been voted down, the system would have “worked” in that the Senate would have done it’s job.
I always wondered why McConnell didn’t allow there to be a vote. Back then, Garland needed 60 votes. It is hard for me to imagine that enough Republicans would have crossed over to vote for him, particularly if McConnell was beating on them to vote “no.”
The large majority of supreme court justices have been approved overwhelmingly if they were qualified, regardless of whether they were conservative or liberal.
McConnell’s Garland ploy may mean that from now on, a justice will only be approved if the same party holds the presidency and the Senate. That would not be a good thing for the court or the country.
+1
He can spin it all he wants, but the truth is what you have written. There is no precedent for what McConnell did. In the end however I blame Obama and the democrats. They should have created a constitutional crises by playing the, "no hearing, no vote, you have given your consent" and Obama seated him. Make SCOTUS deal with it. The democrats just play too nice sometimes. That must end.
Apparently the dems are considering impeachment, of Barr, or Trump which would put a halt on all other business. This would definitely move the vote until after the election.
Obama should have used the recess appointment mechanism to get Garland on the bench. Mitch was trying to play games about keeping the Senate always in session, but I think there was a good argument that that was just a charade and would not have been upheld by the courts. Obama took the high road, however. Darn those Obamas with their high road stuff.
I don’t understand how impeachment would help the Dems. They are going to try to impeach Trump between now and the election? On what grounds? And, as MD said, why couldn’t the Senate vote to acquit and then vote on the supreme court nominee an hour later?
Any move to impeach Trump now would cost the Dems votes on November 3, I would be quite sure.
While packing the court is a dicey proposition, I think there would be more popular support for that than there would be for an October impeachment of Trump.
Having said that, I’m all for impeaching Bill Barr any day of the week.