Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley’s op-ed in the NY Times today gets it exactly right on the Gorsuch nomination to the Supreme Court, hitting all the important points about how Republicans have committed a “crime against our Constitution” and that the GOP, in essence, has already used the nuclear option by refusing to give a hearing to Merrick Garland and, in potentially dropping the threshold to confirm to 51 votes, the GOP would just be continuing its “disregard for Senate tradition and the integrity of the Supreme Court”. In addition, Merkley makes it clear that there will be retribution down the road for what the GOP has already done to the process of confirming a Supreme Court justice. Read his whole piece in full but here are some highlights:
“Senate Republicans are in the middle of pulling off one of the great political heists in American history: the theft of a seat on the United States Supreme Court.”
“This crime against our Constitution began when Justice Antonin Scalia died nearly a year ago. Senate Republicans decided that day, before President Barack Obama even nominated a candidate to fill the seat, that they would reject their constitutional duty to provide ‘advice and consent’ on any nominee he put forward.”
“Moreover, if the strategy of stealing a seat succeeds, it’s a precedent that will haunt us each time we have a vacancy on the court.”
“Some have argued that insisting on the 60-vote requirement will simply cause the Republicans to exercise the so-called nuclear option, lowering the required support to a simple majority of 51. This is certainly a possibility, since the Republicans have already shown such disregard for Senate tradition and the integrity of the Supreme Court.”
“But I see accepting this nomination as going along with a different nuclear option, one the Republicans have already exercised…Furthermore, lowering the required vote threshold will not be such an easy decision for the Republicans, because the day will come when Democrats control both the White House and the Senate. Rest assured Republicans will wish the nuclear option had not been invoked.”
“Categorical opposition to this nomination is not retribution for the treatment of Judge Garland. It is a refusal to be party to a tactic that will deeply hurt the Supreme Court and, consequently, the rule of law…I am not prepared to be complicit in the undermining of our government.”
