Should Obama seat Merrick Garland?

[Yo_Mama]

29. It would be a stupid, stupid move. Obama isn't stupid.

First, constitutionally Garland could only be appointed to the SC for less than one year - recess appts are temporary.

Any possible gain would be minimal, and the possible negatives are pretty large. Standing constitutional precedent is that a recess appointment for Garland may not be made unless Congress adjourns for ten days, and it appears Congress will not.

So Obama would be setting himself and, by implication, the Democratic party up for a constitutional rebuff right when it would really hurt the party; trying to make an unconstitutional recess appointment would be a political lightning rod that could only hurt the person/party that attempts it.

My reading of the polls is that Obama will go out of office as a really popular figure, and he will be a strong rallying point for the future party. I would assume that throwing that away (historically, populations have reacted very negatively to end-runs around the constitutional SC appointment process, even for FDR) for a basically symbolic gesture is not anything that our current president would even consider.

I don't like not holding the hearings for Garland, but Congress could have done so and rejected him. It wouldn't change the result, would it?