GOP Senators Flatly Refuse to Meet With Any of Obama’s Supreme Court Candidates
Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, tried to dissuade President Obama from even presenting a Supreme Court nominee during his last year in office. (Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock)
Leaving no room for ambiguity or civility, Senate Republicans on Tuesday issued a decree that they would not even entertain the idea of giving face time to any Supreme Court nominees President Obama might present during his remaining time in office.
The New York Times elaborated:
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, urged the president to reconsider even submitting a name.
At the same time, Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans issued a letter unanimously rejecting any confirmation hearings.
The actions of Senate Republican leaders and the committee of jurisdiction sent a clear signal to President Obama and wavering Republicans that their ranks would not crack. It also thrust the Senate into unprecedented territory; Senators meet with high-court nominees as matters of courtesy and cordiality, but even that tradition has been rejected.
Instead, Republican leaders vowed they would not even consider Mr. Obama’s nominee regardless of his or her qualifications.
Democrats lashed out but seemed powerless to force Republicans to alter course. “The Senate, the world’s greatest deliberative body?” the Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, asked, railing against the Republicans. “They’re not going to deliberate at all.”
–Posted by Kasia Anderson
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