Mitch McConnell on Wednesday proved he is lacking the capacity for irony. McConnell, of course, led the effort to block the confirmation of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court effectively stealing a supreme court seat from President Obama.
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Mitch McConnell won’t tolerate Democrats returning the favor on Supreme Court seat
But on Wednesday the Senate Majority leader seemed to have left his sense of irony at home when he announced that he will not tolerate Democratic efforts to block a Donald Trump Supreme Court nominee.
Donald Trump has vowed to nominate an extreme conservative to the bench, while President Obama in nominating Merrick Garland made great effort to find an eminently qualified moderate to fill the supreme court seat. McConnell was responding remarks from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer who suggested that Democrats would block a Trump nominee for the vacant spot on the high court, in response to the Republican refusal to hold hearings on President Obama’s choice, Merrick Garland. McConnell invoked the so-called “Biden rule,” and said it means that a nomination should not be confirmed in an election year. But Biden’s actual remarks in 1992 were
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McConnell claimed to be invoking the so-called “Biden rule,” saying that a nomination should not be confirmed in an election year. However, that of course was a mischaracterization of Biden’s actual remarks in 1992. Biden was referring to the period before the election, meaning a nomination could be voted on and confirmed after Election Day.
“Apparently there’s yet a new standard now, which is to not confirm a Supreme Court nominee at all,” McConnell said, adding: “We’ll be looking forward to receiving a Supreme Court nomination and moving forward on it.”
You will remember that before the election when it looked like Hillary Clinton would win, there were three Republican senators who had suggested that they were prepared to block all Supreme Court nominees, regardless of merit, until 2021.
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