Senate Democrats are already promising to filibuster President Trump’s nominee for Supreme Court…even before they know who the nominee is.
And as if that’s not hypocritical enough, one of the Democrat leaders actually argued against ‘useless filibusters’ in recent years.
Here’s more from DC Statesman:
President Donald Trump today announced he will make his pick for Supreme Court known tomorrow instead of Thursday, as originally planned.
Earlier today he tweeted this out:
Before his pick will be revealed Democrats have already come out in opposition. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said in an interview that he fill filibuster any pick that is not Obama’s choice, Merrick Garland. With the chances of that being 0%, the American people can look forward to a bloody confirmation battle:
“This is a stolen seat. This is the first time a Senate majority has stolen a seat,” Merkley said in an interview. “We will use every lever in our power to stop this.”
It’s a move that will prompt a massive partisan battle over Trump’s nominee and could lead to an unraveling of the Senate rules if Merkley is able to get 41 Democrats to join him in a filibuster. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also reminded her Twitter followers on Sunday night that Supreme Court nominees can still be blocked by the Senate minority, unlike all other executive and judicial nominees.
This is a pretty shocking statement considering Senator Merkeley doesn’t even know who the pick will be, but will oppose it anyway.
Trump’s nominee will need 60 votes to be confirmed by the Senate. This will be the second time in recent history that the Senate will attempt a filibuster. Democrats tried in 2006 to block Justice Samuel Alito, but failed. Republicans were quick to condemn Merkeley for his gross partisanship:
“When Democrats were in the majority, Sen. Merkley wanted to end filibusters. But I guess he only meant when Democrats are in the majority and in control of the White House,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Here’s the video in which Sen. Merkley argued against the filibuster:
