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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDonald Trump's Supreme Court Pick Can Be Blocked
It is possible that just one Republican vote could be enough (in combination with Democrats) to prevent a lurch to the right.
By John NicholsTwitter YESTERDAY 6:01 PM
Donald Trump, the weak and frightened president who makes his most important decisions based on lists provided to him by right-wing zealots and his corporate overlords, plans to name a nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the US Supreme Court on July 9.
Mitch McConnell, the calculating US Senate majority leader who delayed deliberations on President Barack Obamas legitimate Supreme Court pick in order to steal a place on the bench, will put the confirmation of Trumps pick on a legislative fast track.
Trump and McConnell will try to overwhelm opposition with a shock-and-awe strategy that relies entirely on fostering a sense that their attempt to redefine the judicial branch of the federal government cannot be stopped.
But it can be stopped. This is the essential understanding that must be embraced by Americans who, in these unsettled times, seek to maintain the rough outlines of a system of checks and balances. Trumps nominee must be approved by McConnells Senate.
The majority leader will, of course, break every rule in order to thwart Democratic opposition. He will, as well, employ sly backroom strategies to pressure the Senates 51 Republicans to vote for the nominee Trump is expected to select from the vetted list of 24 judges (and Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee) that was assembled for him by political strategists for the special-interest groups that seek to forge an activist majority on a Supreme Court that can then dismantle essential protections for civil rights and civil liberties while increasing the power of corporations. No mystery there.
https://www.thenation.com/article/donald-trumps-supreme-court-pick-can-blocked/
Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)Gorsuch was nominated for the stolen seat. Furthermore, that vote came up in 2017, when red-state Democrats could reason that their voters would have plenty of time to get over their anger before Election Day.
Even under those favorable conditions, some of the Democrats (as in DU-approved D-after-their-names and running-on-the-Democratic-Party-line Democrats) defected and voted for Gorsuch.
I'm fairly confident of the votes of the two Independents who caucus with the Democrats. As to the 47 D-after-their-names Democrats, though -- well, they might all stick together if Trump nominates Roy Moore, but if Trump again nominates a youngish right-wing ideologue who hasn't been banned from any shopping malls, then getting 47 Nay votes from the Democrats will be a very heavy lift.
bluecollar2
(3,622 posts)At least 3 Democrats will vote to confirm...