Politics

What Judiciary Committee Democrats Said About Filling The Supreme Court Vacancy In 2016 And What They Are Saying Now

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Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee who were strongly in favor of voting for Judge Merrick Garland have voiced their disapproval for voting on the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s potential replacement.

President Barack Obama nominated Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in February 2016 after Justice Antonin Scalia died, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wouldn’t consider the nomination since it was an election year, The Washington Post reported at the time.

Ginsburg spoke out against McConnell’s decision to halt a vote to confirm Garland saying it was the Senate’s job to vote.

“There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the president stops being president in his last year,” Ginsburg said in July 2016, according to The New York Times.

Before she died Ginsburg said her “most fervent” wish was to not be replaced until the next president was elected, according to her granddaughter.

President Donald Trump announced his intention Tuesday to nominate someone to potentially replace Ginsburg on Saturday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which conducts hearings for Supreme Court nominations, will once again be in the spotlight with a nomination approaching.

“We urge you to adhere to your own words and commit publicly that you will not consider any nominee to fill Justice Ginsburg’s seat until after the next President is inaugurated,” the Judiciary Democrats said in a Saturday letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the committee.

Here is what Judiciary Committee Democrats’ said about voting for a justice during an election year in 2016 and 2020.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein

“Elections aren’t an excuse to avoid doing our work. We must consider Judge Garland for @SCOTUSnom. #DoYourJob,” ranking member of the Judiciary Committee Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California tweeted in May 2016.

In September 2016, Feinstein tweeted that Garland was the best choice for the Supreme Court.

“Under no circumstances should the Senate consider a replacement for Justice Ginsburg until after the presidential inauguration,” Feinstein tweeted following Ginsburg’s death Friday. “Senator McConnell made his position clear in 2016 when he held Justice Scalia’s seat vacant for 10 months to deny President Obama an appointment.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy

“I agree with Justice O’Connor & Justice Ginsburg that we need a fully functioning #SCOTUS to resolve important legal issues #WeNeedNine,” Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont tweeted in May 2016.

On Monday, Leahy tweeted: “Shamefully, [McConnell] is once again, w/ lightning speed, abandoning ALL precedents & principles in a blind partisan rush to replace the late Justice Ginsburg.”

Sen. Dick Durbin

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois tweeted in April 2016 urging Senate Republicans to “do their job.” In October 2016, one month before the election, he again tweeted saying that the Supreme Court needs nine justices.

“Senator McConnell needs to listen to the members of his caucus who are calling for fairness,” Durbin tweeted Saturday. “The Senate should not consider any replacement for Justice Ginsburg until after the next Presidential inauguration.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse

In June 2016, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island tweeted, “It’s been 84 days since [Obama] nominated Judge Garland. Enough is enough. This shouldn’t be complicated. #WeNeedNine”

“The U.S. Senate should not and must not confirm a new justice until the American people have their say,” Whitehouse tweeted Monday. “Never before in U.S. history has the Senate confirmed a Supreme Court nominee this late in an election year. So why is Mitch so desperate to jam one through?”

In his tweet, Whitehouse included an image suggesting that unnamed Republican donors were forcing McConnell to get a justice on the court.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar

“President Obama did his job in nominating Judge Merrick Garland to fill #SCOTUS vacancy,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar tweeted in March 2016. “Calling on my fellow senators to #DoYourJob”

“People are voting RIGHT NOW to pick our president — that president should pick the next Supreme Court Justice,” Klobuchar tweeted Monday.

Sen. Christopher Coons

“Garland’s former clerks prove he deserves a hearing and vote – time for GOP to stop historic obstruction #DoYourJob,” Sen. Christopher Coons of Delaware tweeted in September 2016.

On Monday, Coons tweeted, “Justice Ginsburg’s dying wish was that the voters should choose the next president and the next president should choose her successor. The future of the Affordable Care Act, reproductive rights, gender & LGBTQ equality, labor rights, & the environment—it all hangs in the balance.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal

In March 2016, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut tweeted, “Now, [Obama] has done his job — it’s time for Senate GOP to do theirs. We must give Judge Garland the hearings & consideration he deserves.”

“No matter who Trump’s nominee is, his treacherous rush denies Americans their say,” Blumenthal tweeted Sunday. “He’s usurping their votes & upending democracy.”

Sen. Mazie Hirono

Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii tweeted in May 2016 that after she met with Garland, “it’s even more apparent that Republicans must #DoYourJob & consider his nomination.”

Hirono even tweeted in October 2016 that Republicans needed to give Garland a hearing.

However, Hirono tweeted Friday, “I have a very simple message for Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell tonight. The best and only way to honor the life’s work of Justice Ginsburg, a giant of a jurist, is to honor her fervent final wish that she not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

Sen. Cory Booker

In March 2016, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey tweeted Republicans must “hold hearings and a vote for Justice Merrick Garland.”

Like Hirono, Booker tweeted again in October 2016, a month before the election, demanding Republicans hold a hearing and vote for Garland.

“We need to stop Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump from ramming a Supreme Court Justice through the Senate,” Booker tweeted Tuesday. “No nominee should be confirmed until after the inauguration.”

Sen. Kamala Harris

“It’s been 5 months since Merrick Garland’s nomination. His absence has created a void in our justice system,” vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who was then a nominee for Senate, tweeted in August 2016. “The Senate must act.”

On Monday, Harris tweeted, “The Supreme Court makes decisions on issues that affect millions of Americans—including health care, the economy, our fight for racial justice, climate change, and more.”

“The voters must choose a president, and that president should nominate Justice Ginsburg’s successor.”