Democrats Call Republican Supreme Court Vote The “Absolute Height of Hypocrisy”

Senate Democrats are pushing to delay confirming President Donald Trump’s nomination for a new Supreme Court justice until after midterm elections. Republicans, who currently hold Senate majority, say any postponement is unlikely.

In the wake of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s recent retirement, Democrats claim the upcoming elections warrant postponement of any confirmation vote until the following year, according to established precedent.

In 2016, the Senate was faced with a similar situation when former President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. The nominee was never even given a vote, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asserted that the consideration of a new Supreme Court justice should not take place during an election year.

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Now, Democrats claim they deserve the same courtesy.

“Millions of people are just months away from determining the senators who should vote to confirm or reject the president’s nominee, and their voices deserve to be heard now, as McConnell thought they deserved to be heard then,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.

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“Anything but that would be the absolute height of hypocrisy,” he asserted.

The GOP-leader disagreed, claiming the circumstances are different this year. 

“That was a presidential election year, so that was very, very different,” argued McConnell. “We’re not in a presidential election year. The last time it was a new president being elected. …I would say, if you say ‘Every two years you can’t do a new nominee,’ that would be a lot.”

For Democrats, their say in the matter hinges on the upcoming midterm elections. The elections hold the potential for Democrats to regain control over the Senate – and possibly overturn the nomination by majority rule.