Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:46 pm
Hillary Clinton unloaded on Senate Republicans for putting partisanship ahead of statesmanship by obstructing President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
In a statement, Clinton said:
The Senate Republicans’ announcement today that they will refuse to consider any appointee by President Obama for the Supreme Court — no hearing, no debate, and no vote, on any potential nominee — is shameful and indefensible. Some Republicans have even suggested President Obama has no right to nominate anyone as if somehow he’s not a real President. The Senate has never taken more than 125 days to vote on a Supreme Court nominee, and on average a confirmation or rejection has taken just two months. The Senate Republicans’ refusal to hold hearings on any nominee by President Obama is unprecedented, and it is an offense to the President and to the American people who elected him. What’s more, they are hindering the Court from doing its work — leaving it with only eight members for the remainder of this term and into the next. It’s time for the Senate to put statesmanship over partisanship, and live up to our constitutional principles.
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What Senate Republicans also did was hand Democrats a universal theme on a silver platter. The Democratic nominee will now be able to go into states like Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire and argue for keeping the White House and against the incumbent Republican senator.
The decision to block President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee was completely in character for the Republican Party. Republicans are a short-sighted party that can only pander and appeal to their current base of supporters. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) whole argument to voters for keeping Republicans in the majority past 2016 was centered on productivity. McConnell wanted to sell the Republican-run Senate as getting things done.
His decision to obstruct President Obama’s nominee has blown that argument to bits. Senate Republicans have revealed themselves to be a part of the obstruction problem. Clinton has a baseball bat of Mitch McConnell’s own making to smack Senate Republicans with.
If Republicans nominate Donald Trump and block Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, they will be setting themselves up for a big defeat in November.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
