By Bronte Price, PoliticKING
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which is Republican led, ruled out confirmation hearings on Tuesday for any U.S. Supreme Court nominee from President Obama. This is a move to end his ability to name a new justice who could shift court's balance of power to the left.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared, just after the death of Justice Scalia, that the Senate would not weigh any nominee that Obama selects to fill Scalia’s seat.
.@SenateMajLdr says a new #SCOTUS justice will not be confirmed during Obama's term https://t.co/0O4g4KggRKhttps://t.co/9MdRzg01Oy
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 23, 2016
The Republican-led Senate must confirm a nominee before they are appointed to the Supreme Court. However, McConnell said that the committee will refuse to consider any Obama selection and that he was “not inclined” to even meet with whomever Obama picks. The Republican committee members wrote that they wanted "to ensure the American people are not deprived of the opportunity to engage in a full and robust debate over the type of jurist they wish to decide some of the most critical issues of our time."
"Presidents have a right to nominate, just as the Senate has its constitutional right to provide or withhold consent. In this case, the Senate will withhold it," McConnell said on Tuesday.
Chairman Chuck Grassley and the rest of the committee's Republicans sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying they will not hold hearings on a nominee to replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia until the next president takes office in January. Scalia died on Feb. 13.
Senate squabbles over Supreme Court hit peak absurdity in claims of hypocrisy https://t.co/CMAgCr2OkJpic.twitter.com/yKVKoHJfpX
— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) February 23, 2016
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid condemned McConnell's stance calling it an "obstruction on steroids." He continued, "Gone are the days of levelheadedness and compromise."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest also condemned the Senate’s position saying that it would be, “a historic and unprecedented acceleration of politicizing a branch of government."
Here’s what Larry Flynt has to say about the future of the Supreme Court:
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