The Senate Democrats who successfully blocked Neil Gorsuch can hold their heads high because they refused to allow a corrupt president, and a morally bankrupt Senate Majority Leader to steal a Supreme Court seat without a fight.
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) never wanted to negotiate a deal to avoid the nuclear option. The Senate Majority Leader never tried to cut a deal. The plan going back to the death of Justice Scalia was always to never allow a vote on Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, hope that Trump won the election, then get his nominee confirmed via the nuclear option.
Senate Democrats began saying immediately after the election that they were open to the possibility of blocking Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, but it was Trump and McConnell who provoked this confrontation. Senate Democrats could have rolled over. They could have given Trump and McConnell their way.
The Democrats could have ignored the pleas of their supporters to fight against the moral wrong that was done to former President Obama and Merrick Garland when Mitch McConnell decided to ignore the Constitution.
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44 of 48 Senate Democrats chose to fight. Democrats chose to stand up for what is right, even if it meant changing the Senate rules.
For too long, the Democratic Party leadership was at times tone-deaf to what their base wanted.
The Democrats are listening now, and their willingness to fight is something that all supporters of the party can be proud of.
A corrupt president who is under federal investigation for potentially treasonous crimes should be fought at every turn using all available means.
Democrats forced Republicans to pay a heavy price to get Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court.
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
