Day 13: Proxy Battle Looms For SCOTUS Nominee’s Confirmation Hearings
Yesterday, Donald Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch from the 10th Circuit to the Supreme Court. Putting aside Gorsuch’s judicial leanings — something we’re sure to get to at some point down the road — Republican hypocrisy has never been more pronounced.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has recently spoken out about the importance of a quick confirmation process.
Of course, breaking centuries of precedent, the Republicans refused to hold confirmation hearings on Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland’s for the final ten months of Obama’s presidency.
There was no doubt Garland was qualified and well-respected.
Many Republicans and right-wing commentators suggested that because the man whose seat was up for grabs — the late Antonin Scalia — was a conservative, his replacement should be in the same mold.
The Court does not, should not and has never worked like that.
Ideology doesn’t hold seats into perpetuity, qualified jurists do.
Supreme Court confirmation hearings are contentious, to say the least. A young judge with a lifetime appointment on the line, coupled with the current, highly partisan political climate means these hearings in particular will be nasty affairs.
Since Republicans are already preparing to use the nuclear option — changing Senate rules to allow a mere 50 votes to overcome a filibuster as opposed to 60 — Democrats will be unable to prevent Gorsuch from being confirmed without a few Republicans crossing the aisle.
Don’t count on it.
Because the Democrats know they’re likely to lose this battle, expect them to try to score political points by highlighting some of Gorsuch’s more controversial rulings and ideologies. More than that, Gorsuch will likely hear Garland’s name a few times and be forced to squirm in what should be someone else’s seat (though, to his credit, Gorsuch has denounced partisanship intruding on judicial appointments and confirmation hearings).
More than anything, expect Democrats to hammer over and over and over the Court’s role in interpreting and enforcing the Emoluments Clause, as well as the importance of checks-and-balances in government as it relates to executive orders.
Gorsuch will be used as proxy battle for Democrats against Donald Trump, his policies and his global conflicts of interest.
13 days in, 1449 to go
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