GARLAND’S NOMINATION OFFICIALLY OVER | Democrats Opt for Risk, Promise Hard Line on Trump SCOTUS Nominee
January 4, 2017
GOOD NIGHT SWEET PRINCE
|There’s an expiration date on everything — even Supreme Court appointments. As of noon yesterday, JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND’S nomination expired with the formal adjournment of the 114th Congress. It had been 293 days since PRESIDENT OBAMA nominated him to our highest court.
IN GOOD COMPANY
|With the end of JUDGE GARLAND’S nomination finally affirmed by yesterday’s transition of power, Marcia Coyle with The National Law Journal reports the D.C. Circuit is now home to two ill-fated Supreme Court nominees. DOUGLAS GINSBURG, a senior judge and colleague to Merrick Garland, was once upon a time nominated to SCOTUS by PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN. However, he withdrew his name from consideration nine days after the nomination, and JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY was nominated a mere four days later. Just imagine the water cooler chit chat of what might have been!
PARTY PLAYBOOK
|For The New Yorker, our friend Jeffrey Toobin provides a how-to for Democrats who want to block a Supreme Court nominee from DONALD TRUMP. He notes, “Democrats will have to make a fast decision after Trump names his choice. (If they’re smart, they’re making up their minds about various candidates right now.) If, instead, the senators break out the incendiary rhetoric of their late colleague from Massachusetts, then the new President may have a fight on his hands. In either case, we’ll know the outcome long before the confirmation votes are counted on the Senate floor.”
CAN'T WALK AWAY FROM THE PRICE YOU PAY
|The best revenge is revenge — and don’t let anyone tell you different. Democrats are taking a hard line on DONALD TRUMP’S Supreme Court pick, promising to give Republicans a taste of their own medicine. Newly minted Senate Minority Leader SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER threw down the gauntlet yesterday, saying during an interview with MSNBC, “We are not going to settle on a Supreme Court nominee. If they don’t appoint someone who’s really good, we’re gonna oppose him tooth and nail.”
RISKY BUSINESS
|“Democrats have the legal and procedural right to block TRUMP’S nominee, and they have options to do it. But politically, all roads appear to lead us back to this: Democrats just don’t have political cover to block Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.” That’s Amber Phillips with The Washington Post weighing the risk Democrats take in showing a willingness to indefinitely block a SCOTUS nominee from Trump.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
|Scott Bomboy for Constitution Daily considers whether the timing of DONALD TRUMP’S nominee is historic by nature, wondering how unique it is for a nomination of a new justice to come down mid-term as a new president takes office. Quicktake: Even if we see a nominee in January, the average nomination and confirmation process has been between two and three months since the Reagan era (notwithstanding how MERRICK GARLAND’S nomination affects the law of averages).
TODAY IN HISTORY
|On this day in 1904, the Supreme Court ruled that Puerto Ricans were not aliens and could enter the United States freely; however, the court stopped short of declaring them citizens. The case was Gonzalez v. Williams.
OTHER NEWS
SCOTUS Bar Warms Up to Wachtell Lawyer as Possible Trump SG
The National Law JournalGeorge Conway III is being positioned as potentially the next Solicitor General. A top litigator at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Conway has argued only once before the Supreme Court, and he is also the husband of Donald Trump’s counselor, Kellyanne Conway.
Why Republicans Shouldn't Weaken the Filibuster
The New York Times“If the Senate is to end gridlock, reduce partisanship and begin to address the nation’s pressing issues, both parties must renew their respect for Senate rules — and the views of the people.”