SOURCE:
WEEKLY STANDARDURL:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/schumer-well-do-everything-to-block-trump-from-filling-stolen-supreme-court-seat/article/2006122by Michael Warren
Schumer will do his best to hold 'stolen' Supreme Court seat open. https://t.co/YPEJSCsji5— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) January 4, 2017
The new minority leader in the Senate, New York Democrat Chuck Schumer, said Tuesday he would "absolutely" attempt to keep open the Supreme Court seat once held by the late justice Antonin Scalia. "It's hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we could support," Schumer told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC.
President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick Garland to fill the seat held by Scalia until the originalist justice died last Feburary. But Republicans, who controlled the Senate throughout 2016, declined to hold a hearing or a vote on Garland's nomination in light of the presidential election. Democrats cried foul, arguing President Obama's nominee deserved a fair hearing and a vote. Schumer himself criticized Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell for "isolating" himself by refusing to move forward on Garland's nomination.
On Tuesday, Maddow asked Schumer what Democrats could do once the nomination for the seat becomes the choice of Republican president Donald Trump. "If it is a fair statement that that was basically a stolen seat, so it isn't theirs to fill," Maddow said, as Schumer responded "yes" to her premise, "then in that case no nominee would be legitimate because that seat should have been filled by President Obama."
"You're right," Schumer said.
"So you would do your best to hold the seat open?" Maddow asked.
"Absolutely," Schumer replied.
Under rules instituted by the former Democratic leader Harry Reid, presidential nominees that demand the consent of the Senate do not require a 60-vote supermajority to override a filibuster threat and invoke cloture—that is, a nominee needs the support of just 51 senators to be confirmed. The exception is for Supreme Court nominees, who still require 60 votes to close debate before the Senate can vote on confirming that nominee. Unless Senate Republicans change the rules, Schumer's statement indicates the Democrats would filibuster nearly any nominee for the Scalia seat from Donald Trump.