Law The Search For The 114th Supreme Court Justice: The Witch-Hunt Against Judge Brett Kavanaugh

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Thread Index, Part 2: The Politicized and Weaponized #MeToo Allegations Against Justice Kavanaugh

Thread Index, Part 1: The Nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh












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Previously...


The Search for the 113th Supreme Court Justice, Part 2: President Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch
 
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Supreme Court Retirement Talk Focuses on Pivotal Justice Kennedy
by Greg Stohr | April 11, 2017

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U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy administers the judicial oath to Judge Neil Gorsuch

Justice Anthony Kennedy reclaimed his position as the man in the middle of the U.S. Supreme Court when he swore in Neil Gorsuch, his former law clerk, as the newest justice.

The question is whether Kennedy wants to keep that pivotal role in close decisions for longer than a few more months.

Long before Gorsuch took his oath of office Monday, speculation was swirling that Kennedy might retire at the end of the term. President Donald Trump’s aides are preparing for the prospect of a new nomination while liberals brace for what could be a seismic shift on the court.

Kennedy, 80, has been the court’s primary pivot point since 2006, generally aligning with the four conservatives on campaign finance and voting rights and with the four liberals on gay rights. By selecting Kennedy’s successor, Trump could finally create the five-member majority that legal conservatives have envisioned for decades -- one that might overturn long-standing precedents including the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion-rights ruling.

"Kennedy leaving and being replaced by a Trump pick will almost certainly move the court to the right and perhaps make the court the most conservative court we have had since the 1930s," said Neal Devins, a William & Mary Law School professor who is co-writing a book on the court and its partisan divisions.

Kennedy has given no public indication of his plans, but he has drawn attention with a handful of semiprivate scheduling decisions. Perhaps most significantly, his next law clerk reunion will take place during the last weekend of June, offering the possibility that he will spring a piece of news on the gathering.

The timing is noteworthy because previous Kennedy reunions took place every five years, and this one comes four years after the 2013 event. In addition, it’s taking place at the end of June, just as the term concludes, rather than in mid-June like previous reunions.

Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said in an email the late-June weekend was chosen "because it works best with the Justice’s schedule."

In November, she told the blog abovethelaw.com that Kennedy’s law clerks wanted to hold the reunion at the end of this term to mark his 80th birthday, which was last July.

Kennedy also moved more slowly than he had in previous years to hire his law clerks. He has now hired a full slate of four clerks for the term that starts in October, Arberg said.
Sense of Timing

Justices typically align their retirement plans with the end of the term in late June, though the timing of the announcement itself varies. The two justices who retired during Barack Obama’s presidency, David Souter and John Paul Stevens, announced their plans a couple of months before the end of the term. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor waited until the last opinions were released in 2005.

One former Kennedy clerk said in an interview he thinks the justice will probably retire at the end of the term. Others say he may stay another year given the extraordinary power he wields. The former clerks declined to speak for attribution.

Kennedy is a 1988 Ronald Reagan appointee who got the nod after the president’s first two choices, Robert Bork and Douglas Ginsburg, failed to win confirmation. Bork lost a Senate vote and Ginsburg withdrew after the revelation that he had smoked marijuana while a professor at Harvard Law School.
Reaffirming Abortion Right

Kennedy disappointed many of his backers in 1992, when he co-wrote an opinion reaffirming the constitutional right to abortion. He is a champion of gay rights who wrote the 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

At the same time, he voted to overturn Obama’s health-care law and wrote the 2010 Citizens United ruling, which opened the way for new campaign spending.

Republicans hold a 52-48 advantage in the Senate, so they could confirm the next Trump nominee without any Democratic support. Even so, Kennedy’s position in the court’s center means the confirmation fight could be even fiercer than the battle over Gorsuch.

"The campaign against a judicially conservative nominee to replace Justice Kennedy would be ferocious," said Rick Garnett, a constitutional law professor at the University of Notre Dame’s law school. "Senators who are up for re-election in 2018 will almost certainly be unable to avoid well-funded and tireless efforts to elevate the political salience of their votes on the nominee."

Kennedy is one of three justices age 78 or older, along with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, two Democratic appointees seen as less likely to retire during Trump’s administration.
Supreme Clerk

Gorsuch’s arrival marks the first time a former law clerk has served as a justice alongside his former Supreme Court boss. Another former Kennedy clerk, federal appeals judge Brett Kavanaugh, was in the White House Rose Garden as Gorsuch took the oath.

The New York Times and Politico have mentioned Kavanaugh as a candidate to succeed Kennedy, although the judge wasn’t on the list of 21 prospective justices Trump released during the campaign.

At the White House, Trump called Kennedy "a great man of outstanding achievement" while glossing over the criticism his opinions have drawn from both sides of the political divide.

"Throughout his nearly 30 years on the Supreme Court, Justice Kennedy has been praised by all for his dedicated and dignified service," Trump said. "We owe him an enormous debt of gratitude, and I am honored that he is with us today."

 
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SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY RETIREMENT RUMORS HAS WASHINGTON ON EDGE FOR NEXT TERM
By Janice Williams On Saturday, June 24, 2017

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As the Supreme Court prepares to give its final opinions of its nine-month term on Monday, fear in Washington continues to grow concerning Justice Anthony Kennedy’s potential retirement. The justice, who will celebrate his 81st birthday in July, has been at the epicenter of retirement rumors for months now, and sources close to Kennedy recently told CNN that he is “seriously considering” retiring, according to a Saturday report.

Although the sources were unable to reveal if Kennedy plans to step down following the conclusion of the term, which started in October 2016, CNN reported dozens of Kennedy’s former clerks said they were worried their upcoming private clerk reunion would be their final chance to meet with him as a justice. Several of the clerks are already headed to Washington to attend the reunion, which takes place every year.

The justice, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, recently declined requests to comment on his retirement plans nor would he address questions pertaining to private meetings with President Donald Trump or members of his administration, according to a a CNN report released in May.

Despite Kennedy’s refusal to comment on his potential retirement, some Republicans have already started considering who would replace the justice should he decide to give up his seat on the bench at the end of the current term. Some of Kennedy’s former clerks and a number of judges from Trump’s initial list of nominees are being considered to fill Kennedy's spot.

Back during his campaign, Trump issued a list of 21 prospects that he’d consider to take open spots on the Supreme Court bench, including Justice Neil Gorsuch, a former clerk under Kennedy. Along with Gorsuch, who was confirmed by the Senate in April, Trump named other potential picks including Judge Raymond M. Kethledge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, Judge Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd Circuit, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Judge Amul Thapar of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and former Solicitor General Paul Clement weren’t on Trump’s original list of contenders, but there seems to be some speculation that they could make the cut now that Trump is in office.

Trump has previously said that he was unaware of Kennedy’s retirement plans, telling theWashington Times back in May that he didn’t want to discuss the rumors.

“I don’t know. I have a lot of respect for Justice Kennedy, but I just don’t know,” Trump said. “I don't like talking about it. I've heard the same rumors that a lot of people have heard. And I have a lot of respect for that gentleman, a lot."

However, during that particular interview Trump noted that he would be considering some of his original nominees if a spot on the bench was to open up.

 
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg was asked for comment:

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If Trump nominates another Gorsuch, that will probably be okay. He's going to have a dozen people in his ear telling him to pick a Bork though.
 
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY RETIREMENT RUMORS HAS WASHINGTON ON EDGE FOR NEXT TERM
By Janice Williams On Saturday, June 24, 2017

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As the Supreme Court prepares to give its final opinions of its nine-month term on Monday, fear in Washington continues to grow concerning Justice Anthony Kennedy’s potential retirement. The justice, who will celebrate his 81st birthday in July, has been at the epicenter of retirement rumors for months now, and sources close to Kennedy recently told CNN that he is “seriously considering” retiring, according to a Saturday report.

Although the sources were unable to reveal if Kennedy plans to step down following the conclusion of the term, which started in October 2016, CNN reported dozens of Kennedy’s former clerks said they were worried their upcoming private clerk reunion would be their final chance to meet with him as a justice. Several of the clerks are already headed to Washington to attend the reunion, which takes place every year.

The justice, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, recently declined requests to comment on his retirement plans nor would he address questions pertaining to private meetings with President Donald Trump or members of his administration, according to a a CNN report released in May.

Despite Kennedy’s refusal to comment on his potential retirement, some Republicans have already started considering who would replace the justice should he decide to give up his seat on the bench at the end of the current term. Some of Kennedy’s former clerks and a number of judges from Trump’s initial list of nominees are being considered to fill Kennedy's spot.

Back during his campaign, Trump issued a list of 21 prospects that he’d consider to take open spots on the Supreme Court bench, including Justice Neil Gorsuch, a former clerk under Kennedy. Along with Gorsuch, who was confirmed by the Senate in April, Trump named other potential picks including Judge Raymond M. Kethledge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, Judge Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd Circuit, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Judge Amul Thapar of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and former Solicitor General Paul Clement weren’t on Trump’s original list of contenders, but there seems to be some speculation that they could make the cut now that Trump is in office.

Trump has previously said that he was unaware of Kennedy’s retirement plans, telling theWashington Times back in May that he didn’t want to discuss the rumors.

“I don’t know. I have a lot of respect for Justice Kennedy, but I just don’t know,” Trump said. “I don't like talking about it. I've heard the same rumors that a lot of people have heard. And I have a lot of respect for that gentleman, a lot."

However, during that particular interview Trump noted that he would be considering some of his original nominees if a spot on the bench was to open up.

http://www.newsweek.com/anthony-kennedy-supreme-court-retirement-628842
This would be particularly strange in light of the fact that he just hired 4 people for next year.

Thapar is not a likely nominee. He's great, but was just now appointed to the 6th. However, that means Kethledge is likely free, and Kethledge is basically made in the same mold as Gorsuch.
 
This would be particularly strange in light of the fact that he just hired 4 people for next year.

Rumors have been circling since April, I hope it's not true though. Kennedy's departure will completely change the game, since he's the very definition of a swing-vote centrist.

Personally, I've always thought @Anung Un Rama 's crush would be next in line to go. Damn woman is nothing short of incredible for hanging on this long, through multiple bouts with cancers and all.
 
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy says he’s retiring
By The Associated Press | June 27, 2018​



Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Supreme Court’s decisive man in the middle on abortion, gay rights and other contentious issues, announced his retirement Wednesday, giving President Donald Trump a golden chance to cement conservative control of the nation’s highest court.

The 81-year-old Kennedy, often a voice of moderation over three decades on the court, provided the key vote on such closely divided issues as affirmative action, guns, campaign finance and voting rights in addition to same-sex marriage and the right to abortion.

Kennedy informed his colleagues of his plans, then went to the White House to meet with Trump, where the president said they talked for half an hour about a potential successor and other topics. The retirement will take effect at the end of July.



Trump praised Kennedy as a man of “tremendous vision” and said his search for a new justice would begin “immediately.”

Without Kennedy, the court will be split between four liberal justices who were appointed by Democratic presidents and four conservatives who were named by Republicans. Trump’s nominee, likely to give the conservatives a solid majority, will face a Senate confirmation process in which Republicans hold the slimmest majority but Democrats can’t prevent a vote.

AP Reporter Mark Sherman looks at what comes next now that Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court. President Donald Trump will make his second selection for the high court.

The other two older justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, and Stephen Breyer, 79, are Democratic appointees who would not appear to be going anywhere during a Trump administration if they can help it.

Trump’s first high court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, was confirmed in April 2017. If past practice is any indication, the president will name a nominee within weeks, setting in motion a process that could allow confirmation by the time the court reconvenes in early October.

Trump already has a list of 25 candidates — 24 judges and Utah Sen. Mike Lee — and has said he would choose a nominee from that list.

Abortion is likely to be one of the fflashpointsin the nomination fight. Kennedy has mainly supported abortion rights in his time on the court, and Trump has made clear he would try to choose justices who want to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Such a dramatic ruling may not be immediately likely, but a more conservative court might be more willing to sustain abortion restrictions.

“If Donald Trump, who has promised to overturn Roe v. Wade, picks someone who is anti-choice, the future of Roe v. Wade is very much in question,” said David Cole, national legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Interest groups across the political spectrum are expected to mobilize to support and fight the nomination because it is so likely to push the court to the right.

Republicans currently hold a bare 51-49 majority in the Senate, although that includes the ailing Sen. John McCain of Arizona. If Democrats stand united in opposition to Trump’s choice, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky can lose no more than one vote. If the Senate divides 50-50, Vice President Mike Pence could break a tie to confirm the nominee.

Prominent on the list of possible successors are Judges Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania and William Pryor of Alabama, who were seriously considered for the seat eventually filled by Gorsuch, and Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who serves on the federal appeals court in Washington. Judges Amy Coney Barrett, whom Trump named to the federal appeals court in Chicago, and Raymond Kethledge, a former Kennedy law clerk who serves on the appeals court based in Cincinnati, also may be considered.

Kavanaugh is a longtime Washington insider, also a onetime Kennedy clerk and a key member of independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s team that produced the report that served as the basis for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment. In October, Kavanaugh dissented when his court ruled that a teenage migrant in federal custody should be able to obtain an abortion immediately.

Regardless of who replaces him, Kennedy’s departure will be a major change for the high court, where he has been the crucial swing vote for more than a decade. He has sided with the liberal justices on gay rights and abortion rights, as well as some cases involving race, the death penalty and the rights of people detained without charges at the Guantanamo Bay naval base. He has written all the court’s major gay-rights decisions, including the 2015 ruling that declared same-sex marriage is a constitutional right nationwide.

However, he also has been a key vote when conservatives have won major rulings on the outcome of the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush, on gun rights, limiting regulation of campaign money and gutting a key provision of the landmark federal Voting Rights Act.

There were no outward signs that Kennedy was getting ready to retire. He had hired his allotment of four law clerks for the term that begins in October and he is planning to spend part of the summer as he typically does, teaching a law school class in Salzburg, Austria.

But several former law clerks have said that Kennedy, a nominee of President Ronald Reagan, preferred to be replaced by a Republican. If he had waited, and if Democrats had taken control of the Senate in November, Trump could have found it more difficult to get his choice confirmed.

Few obstacles seem to stand in the way of confirming Kennedy’s replacement before the court reconvenes in October. Republicans changed the rules during Gorsuch’s confirmation to wipe out the main delaying tactic for Supreme Court nominees, the filibuster, and the need for 60 votes to defeat it.

 
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Dem's may just end up needing a powered drain auger with all the attachments to get all the butthurt out...

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Trump gets pick number 2. Democrats better start praying that RBG doesnt keel over anytime soon or theyll be waiting 20 years to get the court back.
 
Well, that certainly didn't take long.

 
Kamala Harris: Trump's potential Supreme Court nominees 'complete nonstarters'
By Max Greenwood - 06/27/18

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Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) on Wednesday dismissed President Trump's list of potential Supreme Court nominees as "complete non-starters," insisting that the Senate should wait until after the November elections to confirm a new justice.

Harris' comments came shortly after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced that he would retire from the Supreme Court, setting the stage for Trump to nominate a second justice to the high court.

"Given the stakes of this Supreme Court seat, which will determine the fate of fundamental constitutional rights, the American people, who will vote in less than 4 months, deserve to have their voice heard," Harris tweeted. "We shouldn't vote on confirmation until they have voted at the ballot box."

"The President’s list of potential SCOTUS nominees are complete non-starters," she added. "They are conservative ideologues, not mainstream jurists. We cannot and will not accept them to serve on the highest court in the land."





Harris' comments echoed those of other Democrats on Wednesday. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday that it would be hypocritical for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to hold a vote on a Supreme Court nominee before the midterm elections.

McConnell announced moments earlier that he planned to hold a vote on Trump's next nominee in the fall.

After the death of former Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016, McConnell refused to hold a vote on then-President Barack Obama's nominee for the court, Merrick Garland, saying that the Senate should wait until after the presidential election.

Trump was elected later that year, and eventually nominated Neil Gorsuch to the court. He was confirmed by the Senate last year.

It's not yet clear whom Trump will nominate to replace Kennedy on the court. The White House released a list of 25 potential nominees in November, and Trump said on Wednesday that he plans to make his selection from that very list.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...l-supreme-court-nominees-complete-nonstarters
 
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"Given the stakes of this Supreme Court seat, which will determine the fate of fundamental constitutional rights, the American people, who will vote in less than 4 months, deserve to have their voice heard," Harris tweeted. "We shouldn't vote on confirmation until they have voted at the ballot box."

Is this an attempt at satire by pretty much verbatim copying the Republicans line's when they blocked Obama's apointements until after the election?

Also, I will personally find a rubber 'hypocrite' stamp for any conservative poster who complains about Dems "unconstitutionally" refusing to vote on an appointee until after an election plays out

Was bullshit when Rs did it. Will be bullshit once Ds do it. But the bullshit was let out of the can by the Repubs so they can play in the mess they've made

I don't think they have the votes to actually block it though, and it would take one hell of a happening to come away with a senate majority since the nuclear option of only needing 50% to confirm was already forced into play. Dems, if their long game was better, would have just affirmed Gorsuch giving him the 60% needed and then held out for the 2nd appointment
 
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Is this an attempt at satire by pretty much verbatim copying the Republicans line's when they blocked Obama's apointements until after the election?

Also, I will personally find a rubber 'hypocrite' stamp for any conservative poster who complains about Dems "unconstitutionally" refusing to vote on an appointee until after an election plays out

Was bullshit when Rs did it. Will be bullshit once Ds do it. But the bullshit was let out of the can by the Repubs so they can play in the mess they've made

I don't think they have the votes to actually block it though, and it would take one hell of a happening to come away with a senate majority since the nuclear option of only needing 50% to confirm was already forced into play. Dems, if their long game was better, would have just affirmed Gorsuch giving him the 60% needed and then held out for the 2nd appointment

Long lives the "Biden Rule"!

I'm guessing the Rs will regrets not making the distinction between a Presidential Election Year and regular mid-term Elections in their previous argument.
 
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Senate Democrats Have Little Chance to Delay Trump’s Court Pick
By Laura Litvan and Steven T. Dennis | June 28, 2018

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Democrats promised to throw every obstacle in the way of President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, but Senate procedures and election-year politics don’t give them much of a chance.

Republicans last year eliminated the 60-vote barrier to setting a vote for Supreme Court nominees, leaving Democrats without the tool of a filibuster. Their best hope would be to hold Senate Democrats united in opposition and peel off at least two Republicans to vote against Trump’s nominee.

With several Democratic senators facing re-election November in states won overwhelmingly by Trump and Republican lawmakers showing little appetite for crossing a president with a tight grip on GOP voters, that hope is dim -- and may rest squarely on two female Senate Republicans, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.

Less than an hour after Kennedy announced his retirement on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the chamber will move swiftly once Trump nominates a replacement with a confirmation vote in the “fall,” throwing the issue directly into the middle of the midterm congressional elections.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer countered by calling on Republicans to delay a confirmation until after the elections, saying voters have the right to weigh in on “the most important Supreme Court vacancy for this country in at least a generation.”
Energizing Voters

A Supreme Court fight right before an already heated November elections will energize voters in both parties, with divisive issues including abortion rights and access to health care hanging in the balance. It will serve as yet another reminder of the high stakes in deciding which party controls the House and Senate and may bolster turnout in ways no one can yet predict.

“It’s an election season. It’s obviously a politically charged issue as these fights always are,” said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 GOP leader. “For our base, for their base, too, it kind of galvanizes them and makes them very motivated and engaged. I suspect that happens on both sides.”

One thing is clear, though: the half-dozen incumbent Democrats in competitive races in states Trump won in 2016 -- including Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota -- are in a tight spot. Those three senators voted for Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch.
Pressure on Democrats

This time they will be under more intense pressure to stick with Democratic base groups on the confirmation, even as they’re campaigning in states where many voters are likely to favor Trump’s nominee. Republicans have credited the vacancy on Supreme Court left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia with helping to galvanize their voters behind Trump in 2016 after they blocked then-President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland.

“There are no good choices for them here,” said Jennifer Duffy, Senate editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Manchin treaded carefully Wednesday, declining to back the calls by Schumer and many other senior Democrats for a delay. “Senators have a responsibility to do our jobs as elected officials and this includes our Constitutional obligation to advise and consent on a nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy,” he said in a statement.

 
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Republicans Can Confirm Kennedy’s Successor Without Democratic Votes
Democrats are on losing end of long power struggle over Senate filibuster rules
By Joshua Jamerson | June 29, 2018​



WASHINGTON—Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement puts Democrats on the losing end of a yearslong power struggle over the Senate’s filibuster rules.

When the Senate votes this fall to fill Justice Kennedy’s seat, only a simple majority, likely 50 votes in this case, will be required to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick.

Historically, Senate rules required a supermajority—60 votes when all members are present—for most legislation and presidential appointees to cabinet positions and other high-level roles. But Senate Republicans last year eliminated the filibuster for Supreme Court picks, after Democrats did the same in 2013 for lower-court judges and executive-branch posts.

Democrats knew in 2013 that their power play could come back to haunt them, as their Senate majority could eventually evaporate. Nevertheless, most remain raw today about the fact that Mr. Trump was able to place Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court with support from fewer than 60 senators—and only because the Republican majority didn’t allow a vote to fill the late Antonin Scalia’s seat when he died in 2016, during Barack Obama’s presidency.

“For us, on this side, it was a humiliation,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will consider Mr. Trump’s pick to replace Justice Kennedy. “It is carved deep into our memory.”

The majority party can change Senate rules with a simple majority, and Democrats in 2013 eliminated filibusters for most presidential nominees because they said Republicans blocked Mr. Obama’s judicial appointments at an unprecedented rate. Former Sen. Harry Reid (D., Nev.), then the majority leader, engineered the rules change with a parliamentary maneuver so controversial that it is often called the “nuclear option.”

When the Democrats lost the chamber in the 2014 elections, Republicans saw no need to retaliate immediately because Mr. Obama was still in the White House. But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to block confirmation of Mr. Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, until after the 2016 election gave Mr. Trump the power to fill it.

When the Democrats filibustered Mr. Gorsuch’s nomination last year, Senate Republicans voted to remove another element of the minority party’s power to exert influence in the chamber, eliminating filibusters on Supreme Court nominees. That paved the way for the swift elevation of Mr. Gorsuch to the high court.

Mr. McConnell had foreseen such a day. In 2013, as minority leader he warned Democrats that both parties could change the Senate rules.

“If you want to play games, set yet-another precedent that you’ll no doubt come to regret. I say to my friends on the other side of the aisle: You’ll regret this,” he told Democrats on the Senate floor, “and you may regret it a lot sooner than you think.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-re...-without-democratic-votes-1530273070?mod=e2fb
 
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