So, what’s going on with Gorsuch?
Remember him?
One of these days the Senate is going to vote on his nomination, and it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that they’ll approve him. But not just yet. And the mechanism by which it will happen—in particular, whether the nuclear option must be invoked to accomplish it—remains to be seen:
The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed the vote until next week to consider the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the delay was requested by the Democrats.
At least 15 Democrats and independents, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have announced their opposition to the Denver-based appeals court judge, arguing that Gorsuch has ruled too often against workers and in favor of corporations.
Schumer said Thursday he would be comfortable filibustering the nomination.
Gorsuch is one of the most qualified judges ever to be nominated to the Supreme Court, and Schumer and the the other 14 know it. They’re doing this to placate their base, and because they don’t like Gorsuch’s conservative point of view, and because they’re still angry that the GOP blocked Garland. Of course, the GOP was well within its rights to do so, and didn’t have to fiddle with nuclear options at all at the time because the GOP was the majority party in the Senate.
More:
The committee will meet again April 3 to recommend Gorsuch to the full Senate favorably or unfavorably.
McConnell has said he hopes to confirm Gorsuch on the Senate floor by the end of that week, before the Senate leaves for a two-week recess and in time for the Court’s April arguments.
If 8 Democratic senators vote for cloture, the 60-vote threshold will be reached and McConnell won’t have to use the nuclear option. I don’t know whether 8 will break ranks on this; my guess is that they won’t, but it’s just a guess. If necessary, though, I think McConnell is prepared to go nuclear in order to get Gorsuch confirmed. It’s that important.
‘Grassley…said the delay was requested by the Democrats’
Do the Republicans have to grant this request? If not then why do it. I’m more patient than most I guess in that I think people underestimate how complex some issues are like health care and tax reform and just repealing and letting the chips fall is a very dangerous game but in an issue like the confirmation of Gorsuch the process has been completed and a vote should be had whether the Democrats are ready or not.
Griffin:
My guess is that they weren’t just doing it for the Democrats. My guess is that they wanted the time, too, to decide on their strategy re the nuclear option if necessary.
Just a guess. I doubt they’d grant the request, though, if there wasn’t something in the delay to their advantage.
I’d be concrned that with McCain, Graham and Snowe, McConnell might not be able to get 51 votes to invoke the nuclear option.
Snowe’s gone and Graham and McCain have both seemed to say that Gorsuch will be confirmed no matter what.
But if they can’t get Gorsuch confirmed then they are basically saying that no conservative will ever get confirmed to SCOTUS.
If he isn’t confirmed that is WAY, WAY worse than the healthcare bill screwup.
Griffin:
I believe strongly that he will be confirmed. The only question is how far they’ll have to go to do it.
However, I also believe strongly that if the GOP didn’t control the Senate, the Democrats would never have confirmed him or most of Trump’s nominees.
neo,
Hope you’re right but some of these Republican senators love their precious senate decorum and rules more than their supposed values.
I think Gorsuch will be confirmed, but the nuclear option will be needed.
Sean Davis at The Federalist suggests that the nuclear option is not necessary to confirm Gorsuch:
http://thefederalist.com/2017/02/07/heres-republicans-can-confirm-supreme-court-nominees-without-killing-filibuster/
London Trader,
I read the federalist regularly, often find wisdom there, and read the article you linked earlier today. I hope the author is correct, but have reservations. I am not sure enough democrats in red states will cross the line to get to 60. Heck, I am not sure all 52 gop senators will vote to confirm. It might come down to the nuclear option and Pence providing the 51 vote.
The bad news would be that the Republican controlled Senate might need a delay to consider their strategy at this point.
I know that each Senator is a “Lord” in her/his own mind; but McConnell needs to exert some discipline and control. Maybe it is time to call in Vinnie and the boys.
I voted for Trump to get a conservative on the Supremes. If that happens, as it should my vote counts and it was not wasted. THAT WILL BE ALL.
I think Gorsuch will get in but there will be some white knuckle moments over the nuclear option on both sides along the way.
Old Texan,
I am old and getting older by the second. But, although I relectsnty voted for djt it was a protest aginst hrc. Trump coulda/shoulda made Gorsuch appointment first priority, But he pissed down your back and you thought it was raining. Same goes for obamacare, He wants single payer, he wants it because he can buy medical care anywhere, while you have limited resources.
Trump will, if it comes dowm to it, dump Gorsuch like so much garbage on the curb. There is no there there. Sorry, but your parade is marching through a thunderstorm.
At this point I’d like to see term limits for SC Justices since they are now effectively partisan lawmakers.
Which would mean amending the Constitution, and therefore unlikely.
Unless both sides get tired of the terrible brinksmanship over each new SC appointment or watching Ruth Ginsburg fall asleep in public again.
Griffin: Oops. I’m embarrassed.
London Trader: I think it would be grand theater if the GOP follows the procedure outlined in The Federalist article. I’d stay up at night to watch some of those doddering old Democrats read the phone book to the Cspan camera, even if I was the only one in the country watching. If the Democrats realized that they’d be making fools of themselves for 82 days, after which Gorsuch would be confirmed by all 52 Republicans — because they wouldn’t have to invoke the nuclear option — they’d fold like a cheap umbrella. (But don’t pay much attention to me — after all, I thought Snowe was still in there!)
I’m with OldTexan.
Parker – If we get Gorsuch in the Supremes DJT can piss down my back all day long if not then what the F. We are living in precarious times, kind of like the Blitz in London and most folks don’t have a clue that all is not well…… and THAT’S ALL I KNOW ABOUT THAT!
I think we are in a lot more trouble for the future than any one can conceive and I just found out today that I have new grand daughter coming into this world. I have now idea how my seven grand critters are going to deal with the future we are giving them. What we want and what we are going to get might be different.
OldTexan: Congratulations on your newest grand-daughter!
That’s not me, but I have friends and family who are on the hook for the world their kids, grand-kids and great-grand-kids will inhabit, so that is me, too, ultimately.
I fear for it. Yet I also know the future has always been uncertain for us wacko monkeys with big craniums.
God bless us, everyone.
I think the filibuster will be a charade- endangered senators will be given permission to vote for cloture, but will then vote against Gorsuch. I predict Gorsuch gets approved 53-47, with Manchin the only yea vote from the Democrats.
Now, if Schumer thinks he has three Republicans in his pocket for beating back the nuclear option, it will become a real filibuster.
London Trader,
As I understand Senate rules, keeping the legislative day open like that requires that a majority of the Senate membership be on the floor 24 hours a day, day after day. This leads to an symmetric problem- Democrats, as the minority, need only keep one member on the floor during debate of anything- the one filibustering. The Republicans, as the majority party, must be the ones keeping a majority on the floor to meet the quorum calls. If they fail to that even once, the Senate adjourns and a new day is started.
I know Republicans don’t want to learn any new tricks, but they should.
They have tried a couple of times to close government down in recent history. They got stared down and lost ground because of it.
Trump needs to tell them to bring on the filibuster. Refuse to do any business as a result of it. Until Democrats in public service start to squeal. Closing government doesn’t hurt conservatives.
Let them play their silly game, until all reasonable people see who is being unreasonable.
State the silly buggers down. And shame any Republican who helps them.
Stare, not state.
Yancey Ward: This long report at the Heritage Foundation indicates that the Republicans would not have to maintain a 24/7 presence on the Senate floor. But they would have to produce a quorum (51) on fifteen minutes’ notice. History records instances when Senators brought mattresses into their offices. There is also a method by which the first of each Senator’s two speeches chan be limited to one hour.
I think its all smoke. The Dems know that repubs did not filibuster Sotomayer and Kagan. If they do this they are running a huge risk.
Right now they are drunk on resistance and the media helping them out with their russia boogeyman.
But in two years when they are defending 23 seats if things do not work out as they hope and they lose a net 9 seats, they will be in big trouble. Because even if they beat Trump 4 years from now, it may be impossible for them to flip the Senate for a long time.
That will leave them with the white house, and nothing else. At that point they will be screaming that Scotus appts require an up or down vote, and no filibuster.
Problem will be that most of the repub Senators will remember this time and say hold on, you filibustered Gorsuch.
They are gonna fold on Gorsuch, and make sure he gets his 60 for cloture. Any other result could screw them over for a very long time. Breyer, Kennedy, and Ginsburg are not spring chickens.
To answer my own question apparently yes any senator can request a one week delay and that is what happened here with some Democrat (Schumer I suppose).
The senate has more stupid rules and members that love their stupid rules than any body ever.
I read a report earlier today that Leahy is rumbling about not being in favor of a filibuster. The article posited this strategy: Leahy (essentially politically invulnerable in Vermont) takes the brunt of the criticism from the left. As a former Judiciary chair and (former?) judiciary member, Red State senators up for re-election in 2018 can defer to Leahy’s experience and credentials by voting with him. All the while Schumer rouses the rabble to placate the leftist base. Perhaps this is where 8 Dem votes come from.
Even in my own state (PA) this would work. Casey has already announced he will not vote for Gorsuch, but with Leahy in the mix he could easily rationalize a change of vote as an attempt to mollify both sides: “I was against Gorsuch before I voted for him.”
We live in interesting times.