As we get closer and closer to having a Justice Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, it is interesting to watch what the Senate Democrats are doing to themselves and the institution.
We hear that Democrats are under siege by leftist agitators who want Gorsuch defeated and Trump decapitated.
It’s the kind of fanaticism that we’ve seen all over the world, but not in the U.S. It’s also the kind of political agitation that makes governing difficult, if not impossible.
The overall Democratic obstruction is expected to compel GOP leaders to eliminate a 60-vote requirement for Supreme Court nominees and allow confirmation of Gorsuch with a simple majority vote.
The partisan standoff underscores the sharp polarization that has seized Congress less than three months into Trump’s presidency. Senate Democrats angered by Trump’s policies – and McConnell’s refusal to consider Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee last year – have united against Gorsuch, clinching enough votes to block him earlier this week.
It also heralds a potentially more contentious climate in the Senate, which traditionally has allowed the minority party to exert a powerful voice in debate over key nominations and legislation – unlike in the House.
Senate Democrats changed the rules in 2013 to permit executive-branch nominees and federal judges to be approved by a simple majority, with the critical exception of Supreme Court selections.
There are a couple of reasons for the madness we are watching.
First, the Court has become very political. We can thank opinions about abortion and the redefinition of marriage for that. In both of those cases, justices took the decision from the legislative branches and created new rights.
And second, the Democrats have shown little spine against their base during this whole show.
My guess is that they are privately embarrassed by what left-wing agitators are forcing them to do, from asking idiotic questions at the hearings to denying a capable jurist a seat in the Court.
It is embarrassing to watch Democrats behave like this. They are letting a crazy base destroy the institution they sit in.
So where is the Democrat who stands up and just tells the agitators what to do with their money?
Where is the statesman willing to put the Senate over the agitators? The country could use a few of them!
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