Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the newly elected Senate minority leader, pledged during an appearance on The Rachel Maddow to block the Supreme Court nominee that Trump offers up to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Schumer said he will “absolutely” do everything possible to hold the Supreme Court seat open indefinitely.
Schumer:“It’s hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we could supportMADDOW: “And so you will do your best to hold the seat open?”SCHUMER: “Absolutely.”
Schumer contends that the Supreme Court seat was essentially stolen from President Barack Obama because Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to hold a hearing on Merrick Garland, who was nominated by Obama on March 16, 2016. Garland’s nomination officially expired after the formal adjournment of the 114th Congress. Republicans contend that they wanted to allow the voters to weigh in on their presidential selection before moving froward with a Supreme Court nominee.
“I’ve been clear throughout that the next president would name the next Supreme Court justice,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said through a spokesman to the Wall Street Journal. “Now, the president who won the election will make the nomination, and the Senate the American people just re-elected will consider that nomination.”