McConnell: "Reversing himself would invite accusations that his position was based on politics, not principles, all along." It's true, so it's not an accusation!

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As Trump falters, Democrats plan to press fight for Supreme Court
By Alan Rappeport, August 19, 2016

Emboldened by their electoral prospects in November, Democrats are planning to redouble their efforts to make the fate of the Supreme Court a signature election issue, with the Democratic leader in the Senate threatening to stall Republican legislative priorities if no action is taken on the confirmation of Judge Merrick B. Garland.

The Senate has been stuck in a stalemate since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February left a vacancy on the bench. Republicans have refused to hold confirmation hearings on President Obama’s nominee, insisting that the next president should make the choice. But with Donald Trump’s poll numbers sliding, the Democratic leadership sees an opening to derail Republicans who are facing reelection by blaming them for the delay.

“We’re not going to back off,” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic minority leader, said in an interview this week. “There will be things we are going to do to draw more attention to this.”

He predicted that the Republican presidential nominee’s prospects would decline further by next month, adding, “By then, they are going to have to look for some way to break from Donald Trump.”

Republicans find themselves in a precarious position on the issue. After insisting that voters should be allowed a voice on Garland’s fate through the election of Obama’s successor, their nominee is faltering and the Republican Senate majority is in doubt. Adding to the pressure on Republicans to act is speculation that Hillary Clinton, if elected, could nominate someone who is more liberal than Garland.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, has been adamant that Obama not be allowed to name a Supreme Court justice in his last year in office — a position he took when a Republican appeared more likely to win the White House. Reversing himself would invite accusations that his position was based on politics, not principles, all along.

Reid would not say what kinds of procedural moves Democrats might employ to pressure Republicans when Congress reconvenes in early September, but he suggested that there were plenty of options to stop up the Senate’s business, including some that Republicans have used.

“They’ve blocked all legislation, they’ve blocked nominations, they’ve filibustered all kinds of things,” Reid said. “We haven’t done that, but it doesn’t mean we can’t do it when we come back.”

But time will be limited: Lawmakers will have just over a month to address issues such as a Zika funding bill, a stopgap measure to keep the government open, and an annual defense policy bill before many of them return to the campaign trail in early October. Democrats have tried to drum up outrage around the court vacancy before, only to have attention fizzle under the glare of the presidential election and debates about trade, terrorism, and immigration.

White House officials said the president and his advisers would continue to make a public case for Garland’s confirmation. Obama wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on the subject in July, and aides said the president would push the issue even as he campaigns for Clinton.

“As soon as Republicans are ready to be done with their historic obstruction, we stand ready for a hearing and a vote,” said White House spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine.

But Obama’s Democratic allies concede that the message about Garland is being swamped by the presidential race, and that it has become only one small part of the campaign against the Republicans. Many believe that Garland’s confirmation will not be resolved until after the election.

Another obstacle is a lack of enthusiasm for Garland among the Democratic Party’s progressive base.

Adam Green, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said he was hopeful Republicans would continue to block Garland’s confirmation before the election and in the lame-duck period. With Clinton’s improved prospects of winning, he said he hoped she would pick someone more liberal.

“Garland was the most conservative pick a Democratic president could have made,” Green said.

Neil Sroka, communications director at Democracy for America, agreed, arguing that the party’s base is not excited about adding a moderate, white man to the court.

“If Secretary Clinton wins the White House,” Sroka said, “she should absolutely swing for the fences.”
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