After weeks of taking a hit in the court of public opinion, Republicans are no closer to ending their unprecedented obstruction of the Supreme Court vacancy. Here’s a look at what has happened in the four weeks since Justice Scalia’s death:
- Vulnerable GOP Senators were immediately slammed with a widespread rebuke from local and national newspapers.
- They doubled down on their original obstruction to not hold hearings by announcing they won’t even meet with the Supreme Court nominee.
- In their pledge to support Donald Trump as the nominee, GOP Senators have put their faith in Trump to nominate the next Supreme Court justice.
- Multiple polls have shown that the American public wants the Supreme Court vacancy to be filled this year, and that Republican Senators who are standing for the constitutional obstruction will pay for it in November.
Now, Republicans aren’t even pretending anymore that their constitutional obstruction is about anything more than politics. Senator Lindsey Graham yesterday admitted that the Supreme Court blockade is unprecedented and it will be “changing the rules, probably in a permanent fashion.”
And Senator Ron Johnson, one of the most vulnerable Senators of the cycle, blatantly admitted what we all knew to be true: Republicans would be willing to consider a Supreme Court nominee if there were a Republican president.
“Senator Ron Johnson may have been the first to admit it out loud, but it’s been clear since day one that the GOP’s Supreme Court blockade is rooted in nothing more than political games,” said Lauren Passalacqua, DSCC National Press Secretary. “Voters want the Supreme Court vacancy filled now, and the longer Senate Republicans hold up the process, the more they endanger their already fragile reelection chances in the fall.”
