So the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer made it official yesterday — he will lead a filibuster of Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
What a pity. And how utterly shameful that Massachusetts’ two senators were among the very first to jump on board this ill-advised band wagon.
The move came even as Nancy Scott Degan of the American Bar Association was explaining to the Judiciary Committee how the ABA arrived at its “well qualified” rating — the highest the group can bestow on the nominee. The evaluating committee contacted almost 5,000 people nationwide with knowledge of the judge’s qualifications — including integrity, professional competence and temperament.
“The scope of our investigation was deep and broad,” Degan said. “We do not give the well-qualified rating lightly.”
All of that seems to matter not one whit to the blindly partisan for whom any nomination made by President Trump would never be qualified.
“Is the Senate really going to pretend there’s no cloud over @realDonaldTrump & move on w/ the Gorsuch nomination like things are normal?” U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted. She followed up with: “The FBI Director testified @realDonaldTrump’s campaign is under investigation for collusion w/ Russia. Lifetime court appointments can wait.”
So all of government should come to a grinding halt, to Warren’s way of thinking, because, well, you never know what the FBI might find. And if that brand of self-serving inanity forces Republicans to use the “nuclear option” and confirm Gorsuch with a simple 51-vote majority, then this may be a path Schumer and Warren live to regret.
Perhaps more sensible members of their party see the wisdom in voting for a highly qualified candidate and preserving Senate tradition at the same time.
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