It is common practice for the Senate to stop acting on lifetime appointments during the last year of a presidential term, and it’s been nearly 80 years since any president was permitted to immediately fill a vacancy that arose in a presidential election year.” (source). No shocker. “You and your colleagues were pretty clear back in 2016 that in an election year, [it’s] a matter for the people to decide,” Stephanopoulos began. The campaign is already under way. Listen on Apple Podcasts. Dan McLaughlin wrote more on this over at National Review in a very lengthy piece on the subject: History supports Republicans filling the seat. There are three Senate GOP no’s it seems: Romney, Collins, Murkowski. Woodrow Wilson made two nominations in 1916, one of them to replace Charles Evans Hughes, who had resigned from the Court to run for president against Wilson. Biden is Still Hiding his Position. Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation. There is a long tradition that you don’t do this in an election year.” (source), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): “If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election” (This was actually what he said in 2018, doubling down on his previous stance. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn indicate support for confirming a new Supreme Court justice before the election Sept. 18, 2020 This public-service journalism is made possible by readers like you. Inexpensive, too! Abraham Lincoln did it. by Maddie Oatman; Photos by Wesaam Al-Badry. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) decided to stab us in the back yet again on the Supreme Court front. Of the 19 times a president nominated a justice when his party controlled the Senate, 17 of them were confirmed. In 1992, while serving as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and with a Republican in the White House, Vice President Joe Biden said his committee should “seriously consider not scheduling confirmation hearings” on any potential nominees until the campaign season was over.” (source), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas): “It has been 80 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was nominated and confirmed in an election year. ): “The Senate should not confirm a new Supreme Court justice until we have a new president.”, The Senate should not confirm a new Supreme Court justice until we have a new president. He sent up a pair of nominees in December, after the election. If you look at history, if you actually look at what the precedent is, this has happened 29 times. At the same time, in terms of raw power, a majority of senators has the power to seat any nominee they want, and block any nominee they want. It's no confirmations in a presidential election year *when senate and presidency are held by different parties. Wait...Is CIA Director Gina Haspel Blocking Declassification of Russian Collusion Documents? By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners. Gloria Borger: Hearing Trump Talk About the Election was 'Frightening', Counselor to the President Tests Positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus, Another Migrant Caravan Departs for the United States, Breaking: Trump to quarantine after Hicks tests positive for COVID-19 Update: Trump and First Lady test positive, Literally Thousands of Doctors and Scientists Have Come Out Against Fauci’s Lockdowns Including a Nobel Prize-Winning Biophysicist. Thomas Jefferson did it. Doing so would not be in any way inconsistent with Senate Republicans’ holding open the seat vacated by Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016. Nineteen times between 1796 and 1968, presidents have sought to fill a Supreme Court vacancy in a presidential-election year while their party controlled the Senate. Ten of those nominations came before the election; nine of the ten were successful, the only failure being the bipartisan filibuster of the ethically challenged Abe Fortas as chief justice in 1968. The American people shouldn’t be denied a voice.” (source), Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa): “We will see what the people say this fall and our next president, regardless of party, will be making that nomination.” (source), Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.): “Vice President Biden’s remarks may have been voiced in 1992, but they are entirely applicable to 2016. Republicans should not create a brand-new precedent to deviate from them. Saddened by Justice Scalia's passing.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas): “It has been 80 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was nominated and confirmed in an election year. The president who is elected in November should be the one who makes this decision.” (source). Here's why Dems/media feverishly spreading this leaked audio of Melania Trump COULD backfire on them, Virginia Forces Christian Ministries to Adopt 'Government Ideology' or Pay $100K, Don't Be Suckered Into Diversion Over Debate Chaos, Joe Biden’s OTHER Questionable Chinese Concern and Involvement - Hollywood, Former Meteorologist Aims to Put NM Senate Race on America’s Radar, Even CNN Knows that Gov. This wouldn’t be unusual. Confirming a new Supreme Court Justice during a presidential election year for a vacancy arising that same year is not common in our nation’s history; the last time it happened was in 1932. Sens. This was actually what he said in 2018, doubling down on his previous stance. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will do everything in my power to encourage the president and Senate leadership not to start this process until we hear from the American people.” (source), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.): “The next President must nominate successor that upholds constitution, founding principles.”. “Now, on the question of precedent,” Cruz continued, “Look, we had this fight at the end of the Barack Obama term and, at the time, all the Democrats were saying, ‘Confirm the nominee, confirm the nominee,’ and all the Republicans were saying, ‘We’re not gonna confirm the nominee.’”. Terms under which this service Franklin D. Roosevelt did it. Our reporting right now is focused on voting rights and election security, corruption, disinformation, racial and gender equity, and the climate crisis. George Washington made two nominations in 1796, one of them a chief justice replacing a failed nominee the prior year. In 2016, Barack Obama used his raw power to nominate Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia in March of the last year of Obama’s term, with the Trump–Clinton election underway. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had previously gone around the country telling donors that Ginsburg’s death would be his party’s “October Surprise,” pledged Friday that “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”. Twenty-two of the 44 men to hold the office faced this situation, and all twenty-two made the decision to send up a nomination, whether or not they had the votes in the Senate. pic.twitter.com/fYilfuldDT, Regarding whether “this is really about who has the votes and who has the power at any given time,” according to Stephanopoulos, Cruz said, “So no, actually it isn’t. When those failed, he sent up another pair in February (presidential terms then ended in March). It was his last year in office, and the Adams–Jefferson race to replace him was bitter and divisive. Subscribe today and get a full year of Mother Jones for just $12. He had that power.