LEGACY? WHAT IS LEGACY? | Senate Dems Fight Fire with Fire

September 7, 2016

It’s the planting of seeds in a garden you never get to see, and one seed the president just planted packs a serious punch. Yesterday, PRESIDENT OBAMA made history when he appointed Abid Qureshi to the federal district court in Washington D.C. He is the first Muslim person to ever be nominated to the federal judiciary. Born in Pakistan, this litigation partner from Latham & Watkins who serves as the global chairman of their pro bono practice just had his name put in the history books.

Yesterday the Senate returned from its longest recess in nearly half a century and the Supreme Court is still one member down. MERRICK GARLAND‘S name might be missing from recent headlines, but Beltway Dems are banging their drums to call greater attention to his nomination. Lawrence Hurley for Reuters reports the White House-allied group, We Need Nine, hosted a news conference today at 1 First with Democratic senators and lawyers to address Judge Garland’s all-but-forgotten nomination. POLITICO has SENS. DICK DURBIN, RICHARD BLUMENTHAL and CORY BOOKER as press conference attendees.

And counting. NPR’s Nina Totenberg delivers a comprehensive review of events leading up to the current stalemate over JUDGE GARLAND‘s nomination; the impasse that broke the record set 100 years ago for the widest gap between the nomination and confirmation of a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Senate Democrats are doubling down on the fight for the Supreme Court, warning they will hold up committee meetings to protest inaction on his nomination. Doesn’t it seem odd though that Dems are protesting inaction by initiating even more inaction?

Senate Dems mean business, with SENATORS CHUCK SCHUMER and DEBBIE STABENOW speaking truth to power in a back to school themed op-ed published in The Hill yesterday. “With summer vacation ending, students all across America have returned to the classroom, excited to learn. This week, after the longest summer recess in Senate history, lawmakers are also returning to Washington. And while we know that most students will work hard in the coming year, we are still waiting for Senate Republicans to finally start doing their jobs on a critical list of must-do items that they have failed to accomplish.” The senators give their GOP colleagues failing grades for their slow response to funding efforts to combat the Zika virus, and for their failure to act on JUDGE GARLAND‘s nomination to the Supreme Court.

Are poll-watchers permanently gone, now & forever? For Constitution Daily, Lyle Denniston does a Constitution check on recent efforts from the Justice Department and civil rights organizations to bring back federal election observers in some states.

AP’s Mark Sherman considers if America’s death penalty system may in fact be dying. He notes, “There have been just two executions since May 1 and the total for 2016 will hit a 25-year low. Execution drug shortages, sometimes grotesque errors in death chambers and legal challenges to sentences imposed by judges have contributed to a dramatic decline in the number of states that are carrying out executions.”