For me it’s pretty damn simple, put the judge(s) up for vote regardless of whomever the sitting POTUS is because if they are doing the will of the Party over the People then they should be removed from the cloak. Then again I’ve always stated a SCOTUS life cycle should be 20 years nothing more. – PB/TK
Senate Democrat in 2013: Filibustering Judges is the ‘Tyranny of the Minority’ – Guy Benson Feb 28, 2017
My, how times change. We’ve already seen one Democratic Senator express regret over jumping aboard the Reid Rule train, which directly empowered resurgent Republicans to confirm the ‘most conservative‘ presidential cabinet in recent memory — and will hopefully allow the GOP to confirm of Trump-appointed federal judges to fill dozens of existing vacancies (which ought to be an urgent priority, especially after Obama exploited Democrats’ dramatic rule change to stack several circuit courts). Now, America Rising reminds us of this comment from New Mexico Senator Tom Udall, who was a leading proponent of “filibuster reform” back in 2013:
“I think what our role is, is to step out there, advise and consent, and if we don’t believe the person’s qualified, if there’s some real serious problem, vote against them. You remember Bork. He wasn’t filibustered. He was voted down, 58 votes against him. People like Scalia, everybody says, oh, well, there are going to be more Scalias. Scalia passed unanimously. Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court passed with just three votes against her, 96-3. So the issue really is advice and consent, not with supermajorities. Right now, we have the tyranny of the minority. And that’s what we have taken care of.”
Does Udall stand by this standard, or has his appetite for tyranny suddenly returned? Note well that he was discussing the filibuster in the context of Supreme Court nominees, not just lower court picks — plus, his little history lesson is worth repeating and expanding upon. It’s true that neither Robert Bork nor Antonin Scalia nor Ruth Bader Ginsburg faced filibusters. I’d add two more names to that list: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. President Obama added those two women to the Supreme Court in his first two years in office, following the retirements of Justices Souter and Stevens, respectively. Neither was filibustered by Republicans, and each was comfortably confirmed. President George W. Bush also installed two justices on the Court in 2005, the year after his re-election. Both nominees were confirmed, although Justice Alito received fewer than 60 votes (a relevant statistic) following a failed filibuster attempt led by Senator Barack Obama, among others. Going back a bit further, President Bill Clinton also selected two Supreme Court justices during his first term, both of whom were confirmed overwhelmingly, and one of whom (RBG) shifted the ideological composition of the Court.
Continue to townhall.com article: https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2017/02/28/senate-dem-in-2013-filibustering-judges-is-the-tyranny-of-the-minority-n2291392
