Republicans Should Fill the Seat: Rebutting the Haters

Supreme court at dusk, photo by Joe Ravi

It’s hypocritical for Republicans to fill RBG’s seat before the election.

This is in reference to Republicans in 2016 holding up Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, for 10 months. Mitch McConnell used the reasoning of the “Biden Rule,” and now it’s being referred to as the “McConnell Rule.” If we’re going to use it, let’s get it right. There are 2 stipulations:

1. It’s an election year.

2. The presidency and the senate have to be from 2 different parties.

Clearly, 2020 doesn’t apply.

But in 2016, Democrats were passionately arguing that it was their constitutional duty to have a hearing. So, while they’re making the argument that Republicans are acting hypocritically, shouldn’t the same be said about them?

Senators have gone back on their word.

I’ll address Senator Lindsey Graham specifically. Circumstances are vastly different for Senator Lindsey Graham today than they were in 2016. In a letter to Senate Democrats, he addressed how the “McConnell Rule” doesn’t apply. However, the most radicalizing event for Graham was the Kavanaugh hearing. Lindsay Graham didn’t realize his colleagues were capable of such an evil, because he considered them to be his friends. Graham had the idea that as long as you pick a qualified judge, he would vote for them. This was to the dismay of many Republican colleagues, who won’t support judges who legislate from the bench. I didn’t like this about Graham, but he was the sort of guy who would reach across the aisle, but now his hands have been thrown up. He still believes in bipartisanship, but he’s not blind to the fact his friends want to take advantage of him.

This would set a dangerous precedent

No. It wouldn’t. 29 times, a Supreme Court vacancy occurred in an election year. Out of those 29 times, 19 were when a president and the senate majority were of the same party. Of those 19 times, the nominee was confirmed 17 times. Only twice was there a confirmation when the nominee and president were from a different party. As always with politics, it’s about who has the votes.

What will set a dangerous precedent is if Democrats retaliate by packing the courts, creating new states, abolishing the electoral college, and so on. Mind you, these are not new plans. These were discussions in the works. Some of the candidates for president agreed with increasing the number. Joe Biden came out against it in the past, but he won’t even discuss it now. It’s for a simple reason: he doesn’t want to say what his base wants to hear. He probably will sway their way, like he’s swayed away from the Hyde Amendment and other policies, but he can’t sound too radical if he’s running to reestablish norms. It should be telling that he won’t say out loud that packing the court is off the table, but Senator Schumer certainly let it be known it’s a possibility.

Democrats are willing to tear up norms when they don’t win elections. Republicans may be playing hardball, but at least it’s within the rules.

If Republicans push through a nominee, the Democrats will pack the courts.

David French and Jonah Goldberg have made the case that Republicans should try to strike a bargain with Democrats, but any deal would be nothing more than a pinky promise. They were already plotting to change our system. And why would any Democrat elected in 2020 feel obligated to keep a promise made while they weren’t serving? Some Democrats were upset with Mitt Romney’s announcement that he would support a nomination to fill in the vacancy, but he reminded everyone he wasn’t elected in 2016. He wasn’t apart of McConnell’s Garland gamble; Romney’s hands were totally clean.

If Democrats are genuinely serious about packing courts, that’s a reason Republicans have to fight harder to maintain their majority. They must prepare themselves for a continuous victory strategy, and they have to be strong and persuasive enough to make that case to the nation, for as long as possible.

Republicans should wait until after the election to announce a nominee.

Republican voters aren’t stupid. It’s not wise to risk not getting the seat. If Republicans hold it up as an election ploy, they’ll be furious. They may vote for Trump, but they may be angry with the down-ballot. Also, Republicans have long and bitter memories. If they blow this chance to gain another Supreme Court seat and lose either the Senate or the presidency, there will be a deep grudge.

If Democrats find a way to obstruct or make themselves look like fools during the hearings, it will be great news for Republicans.

Some commentators are making the case that the Senate should not hold hearings since everyone will know the result, but I think it will only help Republicans. Kamala Harris in front of a camera only appeals to her sycophants. She’s hiding practically as much as Joe Biden.

It’s not enough time to vet.

President Trump released a list of potential SCOTUS nominees before he got elected. He recently added a few names, but even that was before Ginsburg’s passing. If the DNC didn’t have a research team already digging up everything they can find on these people, fire every single one of them and pick some more staffers. That’s why Joe Biden won’t release a list, because he knows Republicans will pounce on his choices (and so would his party, if they weren’t progressive enough).

Also, Trump’s choices have already gone through confirmation hearings in recent years, such as Amy Coney Barrett. And since the media is busy spreading wild conspiracies and attacking her Catholic faith, the Democrats probably don’t have much to offer.

The American people should decide.

The American people did decide. In 2016, they decided to elect President Donald Trump. They elected him with a majority in the House and Senate. Replacing Justice Scalia was a major factor in Trump’s win. I was on the official bus tour in Michigan, and the Supreme Court was the only talking point some of the speakers had. Trump was a risk. He now has a lot of accomplishments under his belt, and filling over 200 judgeships is one of them.

In 2018, the Senate increased their majority. Kavanaugh’s hearing put a fire under the feet of voters, and they turned out a victory. To think Trump doesn’t have a mandate is silly. Journalists who complain about Trump wielding so much power while not winning by the popular vote is silly. The popular vote isn’t a thing. We were never designed to be a pure democracy, and the Senate represents the states. Besides, Trump won many popular votes…in the states themselves.

Even if President Trump loses the election, he’ll still be a president until the end of the year. Obama was also a lame-duck president in his last year when he nominated Merrick Garland.

It is curious that Democrats didn’t want to leave Trump’s fate up to the American people when they impeached him earlier in the year (with no crimes in the articles).

It was RBG’s dying wish for the next president to decide the election.

I don’t doubt that was her intention and what she would have liked, but I’d like to believe such a profound legal scholar wouldn’t have made such a request. She was against court-packing because she didn’t want the court to become too political. I hope she wouldn’t use her death to emotionally blackmail the political process. I can accept this was her hope, but Ginsburg would have known this wasn’t her call.

The constitution grants this power to the president, and the Senate plays a role to “advise and consent.”

She accomplished a lot. She lived an incredible life. She’s a pop culture icon. Many pushing Ginsburg’s “dying wish” are doing so because they want to preserve abortion. As President Ronald Reagan pointed out, everyone for abortion has already been born. Personally, I’d like to grant first wishes to millions of unborn babies.

Ginsburg also chose not to retire during the Obama years. If she was gambling on a Hillary or even Biden Administration, that was quite the risk.

This is a blatant power move.

Again, the American people put the power in Trump’s hands. He wouldn’t be able to do this if Republicans hadn’t kept the Senate in 2018. Senator Harry Reid is the one who killed the filibuster, and McConnell warned him not to.

Trump has the authority granted by the constitution. Besides the fact that there’s nothing unprecedented or illegal about this, it’s not Trump’s style to wait anyway. And why should he?

And if the shoe was on the other foot, Democrats would absolutely do the same. No question. And if the circumstances were the same, Republicans wouldn’t be able to stop them.