BY: Jeffrey Cimmino Follow @jeffcimmino
September 18, 2018 10:52 am
Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono (D.) said Democrats could keep the open seat on the Supreme Court vacant until after the 2020 election if Brett Kavanaugh's nomination collapses and Democrats regain control of the Senate in November.
Hirono pointed to the long vacancy of Antonin Scalia's former seat as a justification for holding off on confirming any nominee from President Donald Trump. When Barack Obama was president and Republicans held the Senate, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not hold a vote on Obama's nominee Merrick Garland, and Hirono said Democrats could do the same if they had the Senate.
"I think we’ve had those kinds of vacancies before, and we certainly had over a one-year vacancy with Merrick Garland," Hirono told Politico Magazine. "So the world does not come to an end because we don’t fill all of the nominees."
In 2016, Hirono criticized her Republican colleagues for not considering the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. "It is unprecedented to announce unilaterally that no part of advice and consent will occur until after an election."
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https://freebeacon.com/politics/sen-hirono-scotus-seat-stay-vacant-two-years/
