Chris Matthews gets on our nerves many times with some of his pseudo-progressive positions. But he got this one right and explained what many of us have been attempting to explain since Neil Gorsuch’s nomination. And this is why everything at Democrats’ disposal must be used to prevent Trump from picking Antonin Scalia’s replacement. Chris Matthews:…
I don’t think the Putin argument you make flies. First off Pence or Ryan nominates Gorsuch anyways. That’s where succession would get us. Second, the political judgment about the legitimacy of the President by the opposition party is too fraught a basis to deny. Imagine eight years of turning back Obama judges because the Republican core constituency believes he was born in Kenya. But Tweety Bird is correct on the balance. There really is a Constitutional problem with what McConnell did. Where in the “advise and consent” function does the Constitution authorize a pocket veto? Once the President nominates is there a vacancy before the Senate Acts? I do not believe that any nominee through all of American history was rejected by inaction, running the clock, or whatever devise you want to call it. A handful have withdrawn. The principled position is that Garland is still pending.