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The supposed reasoning for filling that seat goes against the reasoning for not filling it in 2016. "We don't want a 4-4 SCOTUS in an election year" except if it benefits Republicans. "We should let the people decide in 9 months who will fill this seat" because it benefits Republicans.
This is pure political greed. Republicans have secured a conservative court for a generation already. Even if Biden filled the seat, it would still be 5-4. However, that's not good enough. They want 6-3 by breaking their own precedent in 2016.
Another precedent? 9 SCOTUS seats. Nothing says it can't be 13. And Democrats are well aware this breaks the SCOTUS. Since Republicans could in turn make it 15 when they are in power next. Sadly, it seems that Republicans plan to call Democrats' bluff. Maybe it won't be a bluff? I don't know.
Point is - Republicans were saying in 2016 "if this happens again (a vacancy in an election year), we won't fill the seat." And they probably thought the chances of it happening any time soon were small. So, it was likely going to be "Republicans get an extra seat and there's a good chance Democrats never fill one in these circumstances." But, lo and behold, the same situation occurs and Republicans are renegging on their own reasoning since it suits them.
If packing the court suits Democrats, then let them.
Honestly, I think part of the reason that not just Trump but various Republican senators are taking a beating in the polls since late September is that most of America agrees that what McConnell and Company are doing is wrong. If the people want to hand the reins back to Democrats, let Democrats fix this problem caused by Republicans.
I wonder if there will be a "surprise" in January (if Biden wins) and a Justice like Clarence Thomas will step down to maintain order.
It is a REQUIREMENT of the job of President to fill the seat and since the Republicans are going to fill it. The Democrats would do the exact same thing if they could. Packing the court is a fundamental change top the court and our government at totally different thing.
I love how I don't see much defense for stealing the SCOTUS seat.
If the question was reworded from "Do you support packing the court" to "Do you support the SCOTUS being representative of the wishes of the people" you'd get a very different answer. We shouldn't have 66% conservative justices in a country where conservatives might only get 46% of the vote, like in 2016.
The Supreme Court is not selected by popular vote, it was intentionally designed that way so it would be isolated from the whims of the popular vote and would use the Constitution to make decisions. Trump and the Senate are following the Constitution and the history of government exactly.
Yup, pack it up! Republicans trampled democrats for the past 4 years (without ever having even a majority of Americans in favor of their garbage). Time for some serious pay back.
The Supreme Court is not based on public opinion. Go back to your high school civics class and learn!
Mr. President, the next justice could fundamentally alter the direction of the supreme court and have a profound impact on our country. So of course, of course, the American people should have a say in the court’s direction. It is a president’s constitutional right to nominate a supreme court justice, and it is the senate’s constitutional right act as a check on a president and withhold its consent. As Chairman Grassley and I declared weeks ago, and reiterated personally to President Obama, the senate will continue to observe the Biden Rule so that the American people have a voice in this momentous decision. The American people may well elect a president who decides to nominate Judge Garland for senate consideration. The next president may also nominate somebody very different. Either way, our view is this. Give the people a voice in filling this vacancy.
Yup, pack it up! Republicans trampled democrats for the past 4 years (without ever having even a majority of Americans in favor of their garbage). Time for some serious pay back.
yeah...since I'm losing playing by the rules, I'll just change the rules
So what happens if you leftists pack the court with 40-year-old activists who legislate from the bench, and ten years from now the country is fed up with the socialist policies and want to return to conservative positions? We would be stuck with a leftist SCOTUS for 40 years.
Besides, the job of the SCOTUS isn’t to reflect what the electorate want at any given time. Their job is to apply the Constitution and see that it hasn’t been violated.
The Constitution doesn't say how many seats are on the SCOTUS.
We can avoid this if Republicans just don't fill the seat. They can keep their 5-4 majority. One simply can't justify filling both Scalia and Ginsburg's seats using contradictory arguments.
You know what I'm fine with? Line up your nomination. Do your hearings. If Trump wins the Presidency and keeps the Senate, have the Senate confirmation vote in November after all the votes are counted. The America people will have decided, just like Republicans wanted in 2016. If Trump loses the Presidency, abandon that effort and wait for the next Administration to nominate someone.
It really is that simple. I don't want to see Democrats pack the court. But, how can one justify a Judicial Branch that fills seats only when the Republican party wants them to?
You do realize that if Republicans keep the Senate and Biden wins, McConnell would just not fill the seat anyway and keep it empty for at least two years. Since, that's how Republicans operate.
The Constitution doesn't say how many seats are on the SCOTUS.
We can avoid this if Republicans just don't fill the seat. They can keep their 5-4 majority. One simply can't justify filling both Scalia and Ginsburg's seats using contradictory arguments.
You know what I'm fine with? Line up your nomination. Do your hearings. If Trump wins the Presidency and keeps the Senate, have the Senate confirmation vote in November after all the votes are counted. The America people will have decided, just like Republicans wanted in 2016. If Trump loses the Presidency, abandon that effort and wait for the next Administration to nominate someone.
It really is that simple. I don't want to see Democrats pack the court. But, how can one justify a Judicial Branch that fills seats only when the Republican party wants them to?
You do realize that if Republicans keep the Senate and Biden wins, McConnell would just not fill the seat anyway and keep it empty for at least two years. Since, that's how Republicans operate.
Here's what I don't understand. Let's suppose the tables were turned. Hillary is President, she has a Democrat majority Senate, and a conservative judge on the SCOTUS just died. How long do you think the Dems would wait to fill that seat? Would they give a rat's behind what any American voter thinks about how it should be done? If they were told that the conservative judge who died made it their "dying wish" to have "their" seat filled by whomever is elected in November would they pause to think and hold things up?
LOLOL, of course not! They would have that seat filled with a flaming liberal in a hot minute. This is how the game of politics is played, no? We all know that the only reason why Merrick Garland is not on the SCOTUS today is because Obama had to deal with a Republican majority Senate, it was through no special kindness or insight on the part of the Dems, that's for sure.
So why the heck do they expect the Republicans to do any different? Why don't they just chalk it up to politics and bad luck and accept that for whatever reason the Republicans got a lucky break and maybe next time it will be them?
The Supreme Court is not selected by popular vote, it was intentionally designed that way so it would be isolated from the whims of the popular vote and would use the Constitution to make decisions. Trump and the Senate are following the Constitution and the history of government exactly.
Actually, the SCOTUS was originally designed in a time where there was not even the wildest dream that someday Judges of the court would be partisan advocates. The assumption back in those naive days was that every judge would bring a completely unbiased and rational point of view to their decisions.
This naive idea also might have been why they made them lifetime appointments - another problem with SCOTUS. Now we know that the SCOTUS judges have simply become an extension of partisan politics, which the founders if they had any vision at all should have anticipated.
Honestly it's not a big deal if they pack the court. It will ultimately bite them in the end. If they do pack the court, then every time the political majority changes, we'll get 3, 5, or 7 more justices. 40 years from now, SCOTUS oral arguments will need to be held in high school football stadiums so all the judges can attend. But if they get the majority and they want this future for our country, so be it. That's how our system works.
Of course I'd personally be happier if they didn't, but if they want to exercise the power vested in their branch of the government, so be it. Just like I'm not outraged that the republicans are ramming a justice through (allowed under the constitution) or blocking a nomination in 2016 because they had the votes to do so (also allowed under the constitution). It just doesn't make sense to get all up in arms when people are playing squarely within the rules.
Last edited by NYCresident2014; 10-13-2020 at 09:42 AM..
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