It’s the year 2044. Moments after Malia Ann Obama is sworn in as the 50th President of the United States, Republicans vow to block any Supreme Court nominee to replace their conservative legal titan, Saint Antonin Scalia. They claim that the voice of America needs to be heard; that once again, 28 years after Scalia’s death and 7 presidents later, America must wait yet another 4 years until maybe, just maybe, a Republican enters the Oval Office.
Does this scenario sound far-fetched? Actually, it’s as ridiculous and radical as what current senate Republicans are promising: They will block consideration of any Supreme Court nominee put forth by President Obama for the next 11 months, until “Americans have spoken,” and we have a new president in 2017.
Just what does the US Constitution mean to Republicans these days? Have Republicans abandoned the Constitution as they’ve abandoned their congressional duties?
Article 2, Section 2, Clause 2 of our Constitution states the President SHALL nominate justices to the Supreme Court. The Constitution also says the Senate has the duty to confirm or not confirm the nominee. The Senate cannot shirk their advise and consent duties for a year, hoping a Trump, Cruz, or Rubio resides in the White House.
The theme of obstructionism run amok has been a constant since Obama’s inauguration; now Republicans are taking it to a radically new level. This dangerous new precedent will only serve to further divide our country. Americans want Congress to do their job. They don’t want government shutdowns, credit defaults, or critical legal rulings in our highest court endlessly delayed while Republicans go on strike and refuse to uphold their constitutional duties.
Republicans are not obligated to confirm Obama’s nominee, but they must hold hearings to judge a nominee’s experience, character, temperament, and respect for the Constitution and rule of law.
Sitting justice Kennedy, a Reagan appointee, was confirmed in the election year of 1988 by a Democratically-controlled Senate. Unanimously. Justice Scalia said, in 2010, that he was “not happy about the intrusion of politics into the judicial appointment process.”
The longest delay ever for confirming a Supreme Court nominee was 125 days. Obama has over 330 days left in office. It’s time for Republicans to get serious, do their job, uphold their constitutional responsibilities, and stop uber-politicizing everything. If they respect Antonin Scalia and our Constitution, then they must consider a nominee and take a vote. Americans deserve that.
Van P. Keele
Hamilton