Rss@dailykos.com (laura Clawson) · Thursday, March 23, 2017, 10:41 am
Senate Democrats are once again doing the resistance thing wrong, wrong, wrong. A group of them—thankfully not including the party’s leadership—are considering giving up the fight against confirming an inhumane far-right ideologue to the United States Supreme Court while the popular vote loser who nominated him is under investigation by the FBI.
The deal Democrats would be most likely to pursue, the sources said, would be to allow confirmation of Gorsuch in exchange for a commitment from Republicans not to kill the filibuster for a subsequent vacancy during President Donald Trump’s term. The next high court opening could alter the balance of the court, and some Democrats privately argue that fight will be far more consequential than the current one.
If Democrats move ahead with the plan — it’s still in the early discussion phase — it would require buy-in from some Republicans, but not necessarily Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) or his top deputies. At least three rank-and-file GOP members would have to pledge not to vote to unilaterally change the Senate rules through a majority-only vote later in Trump’s term — the so-called nuclear option.
So Democrats are supposed to take the word of three Republican senators on this. And next time there will be some other reason they should give in and postpone the fight until the time after that, or possibly some date even further in the future. The group considering this terrible idea predictably includes West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, but also includes Delaware’s Chris Coons. Delaware should be able to do a lot better than a senator who joins in weakness like this.
As a reminder, not only was Gorsuch nominated by someone who lost the popular vote and is under FBI investigation. He’s bought and paid for by a conservative billionaire. He’s pro-torture. He’s pro-voter suppression. He thinks sneaky women take illegitimate advantage of maternity leave. He thinks workers have a duty to endanger their own health if the boss tells them to. His decision sharply limiting the educational opportunities open to kids with disabilities was just overturned by a unanimous Supreme Court. And this is what some Senate Democrats want to cut a deal on.
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