The Hill: McConnell cries foul after 2 Democratic judges cancel retirement after Trump victory

[Dennis Donovan]

The Hill - McConnell cries foul after 2 Democratic judges cancel retirement after Trump victory



by Alexander Bolton - 12/03/24 1:54 PM ET

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vented his displeasure Monday after two Democratic-appointed federal judges reversed their decisions to retire in what appear to be efforts to stop President-elect Trump from nominating their successors.

McConnell called the unusual decisions to forgo retirement following Trump’s sweeping victory last month a “partisan” gambit that would undermine the integrity of federal courts.

“They rolled the dice that a Democrat could replace them and now that he won’t, they’re changing their plans to keep a Republican from doing it,” McConnell said on the Senate floor.

“It’s a brazen admission. And the incoming administration would be wise to explore all available recusal options with these judges, because it’s clear now that they have a political finger on the scale,” he said.

“This sort of partisan behavior undermines the integrity of the judiciary. It exposes bold Democratic blue where there should only be black robes,” McConnell warned.

U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn, an appointee of former President Obama who sits on the court for the Western District of North Carolina, decided to remain in active service despite announcing in 2022 that he would assume part-time senior status.

/snip

Mitch hates it when someone gets the best of him!

[eShirl]

1. tough shit, McTurtle

Thanks to your party, things are no longer "business as usual" in this country.

[Trueblue1968]

36. Turtle man has no power. He is an old has been. No one considers his foolish notions.

Moscow Mitch through and through.

[LakeVermilion]

2. FAFO

Two can play your silly game.

[OldBaldy1701E]

41. Exactly!

(Funnily enough, I am wearing my Moosebirds shirt today!)

[Ocelot II]

3. No Republican has ever manipulated the ways judges are appointed!

La vieja tortuga is righteously outraged!

[no_hypocrisy]

4. This makes me smile.

[JohnQFunk]

5. Boo hoo frackling hoo, Mitch

They're not retiring after all…

[malaise]

6. MoscowMitch did that in 2015

Fuck him

[homegirl]

46. And

the horse he rode in on!

Donny wants a carrot!

[malaise]

51. 😝

😀

[Cha]

7. Suck It Fascist Fuck.

[DeepWinter]

8. Feel bad

for people looking forward to a well earned retirement and putting it off for 4 (more?) years. You never get that time back, all over politics. Just retire. Enjoy those final years.

[Fla Dem]

9. OMG, how dare you talk about partisanship when you manipulated Obama's SCJ appointment.

[returnee]

35. And Trumps!!!!

Republican hypocrisy knows no bounds.

[Rebl2]

49. Just what

I was about to say.

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Foul when blocking Obama SCOTUS pick, and rushing Trump's. FOUL!!! /nt

[Dave Bowman]

11. Hey, wimpy turtle, just shut up already.

Are they all whinny crybabies or am I imagining things?

[drmeow]

12. They really truly hate it

when we play like they do!

Dear McConnell - may you be stung to death by fire ants!

[kerry-is-my-prez]

40. Anybody live in DC? Floridian here with fire ants galore.

I can mail them to someone. We keep on destroying one nest, only to find they build another one two inches away. They are popping up like crazy lately.

[rampartd]

56. when i lived in mississippi i could move them around

but not destoy them.

maybe we can learn something from the red ants

[orleans]

13. isn't he dead yet? what a whiny old bitch. nt

[barbtries]

14. mcconnell is evil.

the king of republican hypocrisy.

[Coventina]

15. Hey Mitch: I cannot wait to dance and then urinate on your grave!!!

[Irish_Dem]

16. He helped sell out our country to the Russians.

He knows full well Putin has been installing R's into high office for a long time now.
And he is fine with it.

[ancianita]

23. Yep, and he welcomed Deripaska into Kentucky, just down the road from his KY office.

He's welcomed Russia into the US for at least 8 years.

[homegirl]

47. Always and forever

MOSCOW MITCH!

[msongs]

17. sweeping victory? what BS is that nt

[Dennis Donovan]

19. It's the Hill

They lean that way.

[milestogo]

18. Mitch nobody is stopping you from retiring.

Please go away.

[Nasruddin]

20. Oh

[WarGamer]

21. only GOP Judges can be partisan, eh Mitch?

[onecaliberal]

22. Womp womp

[Dem2theMax]

24. Hey, McConnell. Here's a blast from the past.

Go Cheney yourself!

[AverageOldGuy]

25. Memo to Turtleface Mitch:

Cry me a river.

[Karasu]

26. This coming from the guy who brazenly stole a Supreme Court seat from Obama, based on an outright lie?

Give me a fucking break.

Get fucked, Mitch.

[RandySF]

27. Tough shit.

[marble falls]

28. Someone lend me a magnifying glass, I can't seem to find my violin.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

29. Two words.

Anthony Kennedy.

[spanone]

30. Fuck off mitch.

[AllyCat]

31. Speaking of undermining the integrity of the

Judiciary…MITCH…wanna talk about 2016 and 2020??

[HariSeldon]

32. Hey Mitch, let's talk after Cannon is convicted on impeachment

If McConnell will tolerate her blatant calendar manipulation and disregard for controlling precedent to reach a conveniently pro-Trump (i.e. partisan) conclusion, then the leg he's trying to stand on is as absent as the soul that should reside behind those beady eyes.

[lame54]

33. The nerve of this asshole

[2naSalit]

34. Oh FFS...

Call a fucking waaahhmbukance already.

Snowflakes can dish it but they can't take it.

[wnylib]

37. Pontificating fascist hypocrite says what?

[dchill]

52. Sleazy politician says what?

[wnylib]

54. Sleezy, hate-filled, autocratic hypocritical politician.

In other words, a typical Republican.

[dchill]

58. Pretty much.

[calimary]

38. Too damn bad, Mitchie-boy.

Like YOU DON’t have AT LEAST one finger (if not more) on the scale.

YOUR team would do the same thing, if not worse, if the situation were reversed. And YOU KNOW IT.

Cry me a river.

[Mike Nelson]

39. Don't cry, Mitch...

... show them how it's done. Be a leader. Retire!

[dlk]

42. Too bad, so sad...

[Evolve Dammit]

43. Piss up a rope Mitchell

[theplayer]

44. What a f....ing ahole

As if Republicans wouldn't do the same thing. And let's ask that piece of s*** Mary Garland how ferret was what Mc turtle did . Although Mary garland would have been just like having another f****** Republican. I won't get started on him. F*** McConnell the biggest hypocrite of all POS hi Cynthia

[cstanleytech]

45. To fucking bad asshole is my response to Putins Bitch!!!! 🖕

[SCantiGOP]

48. Don't blame Mitch

He obviously is not familiar with the concepts of Irony or Hypocrisy.

[GiqueCee]

50. Sociopaths are devoid of conscience...

... and the constipated tortoise hates getting beat at his own game, so he naturally resorts to hissy fits and asinine accusations.

McConnell is such a despicable sonofabitch that even his own daughters find him repugnant.

[The Unmitigated Gall]

53. No one more brazen than the Turtle. nt

[live love laugh]

55. Fuck Glitch.

[Dem4life1234]

57. God when he is gonna meet his maker Satan?

Sick of him.

[tishaLA]

59. President Obama's stolen SCOTUS seat

Say hi.

[Blue Owl]

60. The Tortoise and the Hairclown

Fuck them BOTH to hell

[LetMyPeopleVote]

61. Maddow Blog McConnell is the wrong guy to whine about 'political games,' judicial nominations

As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell complains about people playing “political games” with judicial nominations, irony weeps in the corner.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/mcconnell-wrong-guy-whine-political-games-judicial-nominations-rcna182685

The ad came to mind watching the latest developments on Capitol Hill. Newsweek reported:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was called out by his Democratic colleague after the Kentucky senator complained about playing ‘political games’ with judicial nominations. McConnell made the remark during a Senate floor session on Monday and said he was concerned that two U.S. circuit court judges who had plans to retire may not follow through with them in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. election.

“This sort of partisan behavior undermines the integrity of the judiciary,” McConnell said. “Never, never before has a circuit judge un-retired after a presidential election. It’s literally unprecedented.”

Of course, those interested in playing “political games” with judicial nominations could very easily turn to the Kentucky Republican by saying, “From you, all right? We learned it by watching you!”

If, for example, McConnell seriously wants to have a conversation about what’s “literally unprecedented” when it comes to the politicization of the federal judiciary, the Senate GOP leader should be interested in his own record.

It was in February 2016, for example, when then-Justice Antonin Scalia died unexpectedly. Then-President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, a center-left, compromise jurist — who’d received praise from Senate Republicans — to fill the vacancy, which in turn opened the door to a historic opportunity to stop the high court’s drift to the right......

Nearly four years later, as Election Day 2020 approached, McConnell and his GOP brethren scrambled to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court — abandoning the principles Republicans pretended to care about four years earlier — even as millions of Americans were taking advantage of early voting.

Not to put too fine a point on this, but McConnell has done more than anyone alive to politicize the judiciary. To the extent that anyone is playing “political games” with judicial nominations, they are merely following the playbook the Kentucky Republican authored years ago.