Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee will not Vote on Obama Scalia Replacement

by Wayne Flaherty

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have made a collaborative announcement that they will not hold hearings or a vote on any Supreme Court nominee President Barack Obama should name in 2016.

“We believe the American people need to decide who is going to make this appointment rather than a lame-duck president,” Sen. John Cornyn said Tuesday.

Sen. Lindsey Graham said that members of the judiciary committee had reached a “consensus” that there would not be hearings or a vote on any Obama nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia.

“My decision is that I don’t think we should have a hearing. We should let the next president pick the Supreme Court justice,” he said.
Republican committee members left their meeting and went straight to a lunch with the rest of the Senate Republicans to get them up to speed.

The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has left a power vacuum within the judicial branch of our government, which will be crucial in critical decisions for the considerable future. The GOP is determined to stonewall an Obama nominee, who would certainly cause SCOTUS to lean far to the left.

The White House has said that should the Senate not take up the issue of an Obama nominee, it would be derelict in its duty, but Senate Republicans would be unlikely to confirm any nominee Obama would choose.

However, Republicans are fighting the White House with … the White House.

In 1992, then-Sen. Joe Biden, now Obama’s vice president, argued on the Senate floor that if there were to be a supreme court vacancy, it should not be filled until after that year’s election.