Senate Republicans: Do Your Job

[n2doc]

by Elizabeth Warren

There's a vacancy on the most important court in America, and the message from Senate Republicans is crystal clear: forget the Constitution. For Senate Republicans, it does not matter who President Obama nominates because they will allow no votes and will hold no hearings on that nominee. Their response to one of the most solemn and consequential tasks that our government performs is to pretend that the nominee—and President Obama himself—do not exist.

At the same time that they are blocking all possible Supreme Court nominees, Senate Republicans are in a panic because their party appears to be on a path to nominate one of two extremists for president—extremists who attack the legitimacy of their political opponents and demean millions of Americans. Senate Republicans worry that, if either candidate is selected to be the party's standard-bearer, the Republican party will lose in November.

Republicans' stance on Supreme Court nominees and their response to the extremists at the top of their party's ticket are the same issue. And the solution is simple. If Republican Senators want to stand up to extremists running for president, they can start by standing up to extremists in the Senate. They can start by doing their jobs.

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution says that the president nominates justices to the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate. There is no secret clause that says "...except when that president is a Democrat." If Senators object to a nominee's qualifications, they can vote no and explain themselves to the American people. Although President Obama and I are members of the same political party, I haven't agreed with every single nomination he's made—and I have made my objections clear. That's how advice and consent works: learn about the nominees, and then use your best, good faith judgment to evaluate their qualifications.

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http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/11/senate-republicans-do-your-job

[salinsky]

1. I'll K&R an Elizabeth Warren thread any day of the week ...

Go, Liz!