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Sen. Schumer vows opposition to any 'out of the mainstream' Supreme Court pick

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G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Link.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday he opposes eight or nine of President Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees -- and could also attempt to block his eventual Supreme Court nominee.

"If the nominee is out of the mainstream, we will do our best to keep the seat open," Schumer, D-New York, told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" of the Supreme Court vacancy that Trump will get a shot at filling after majority Republicans blocked former President Barack Obama's nominee for a year.

"I'm hopeful that President Trump may nominate someone who is mainstream and could get bipartisan support," Schumer said. "But if they don't, yes, we will fight it tooth and nail, as long as we have to."

Schumer also said he'll oppose eight or nine of Trump's Cabinet nominees, and potentially more.

He specifically said he opposes Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump's pick for attorney general, and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Trump's nominee to helm the Environmental Protection Agency.

"We certainly feel that we have to bring to the American people how different this Cabinet is -- how hard-right, how many conflicts of interest, billionaires," Schumer said.
His comments come the same day Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham announced they will vote to confirm Trump's pick for secretary of state, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson.

"Listen, this wasn't an easy call. But I also believe that when there's doubt the president, the incoming president, gets the benefit of the doubt, and that's the way I've treated every president that I've had the obligation to vote for or against as a member of the United States Senate," McCain said on ABC's "This Week."

Graham tweeted shortly after: "I will vote to confirm Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.'

That decision could mean Democrats won't have the votes to stop Tillerson's nomination. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has also been on the fence, but Democrats would likely have needed all three -- McCain, Graham and Rubio -- to block Tillerson's confirmation.

Democrats alone do not have enough votes to sink any of Trump's nominees, and Schumer noted it will be up to Republican opposition to actually block picks.

Schumer also said he's worried Trump is "using populist rhetoric to cover up a hard-right agenda."

He criticized Trump's actions over his first 36 hours as president, complaining to the CIA of media coverage of the size of his inauguration crowd.

"President Trump is now president. He's not campaigning anymore," Schumer said. "And instead of talking about how many people showed up at his inauguration, he ought to talk about how many people he's going to bring into the middle class."
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P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I appreciate his sentiment, but this is useless. GOP will 100% ram through whomever they wish.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Good on Chuck. Shame this matters little as there's a 110% chance that McConnell's going to obliterate the filibuster for SC appointments.
 
B

BowieZ

Banned
McCain is voting to confirm ExxonMobil CEO and Putin ally Rex Tillerson?

What even is happening any more?
 
V

VendettaRed07

Member
Plinko said:
I appreciate his sentiment, but this is useless. GOP will 100% ram through whomever they wish.
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Filibuster any bad pick and if they kill it then oh well.

Don't not use the filibuster out of fear of it going away. It's useless if we don't use it. Let destroying a minority party right fall on them.
 
P

Pyroclastic

Banned
man everytime I think someone like Mccain or graham would put principle over party they almost always dissapoint. like what had mccain got to lose at this point?

only reason to vote tillerson is if they if they know for a fact that the guy 2nd in line would be even more of a dipshit.
 
P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
VendettaRed07 said:
Filibuster any bad pick and if they kill it then oh well.

Don't not use the filibuster out of fear of it going away. It's useless if we don't use it. Let destroying a minority party right fall on them.
Click to expand...

Oh, I agree. That's what I was referring to. They'll get rid of the filibuster.
 
S

#sorrynotsorry

Member
btrboyev said:
Dems do have the ability to filibuster a SC nominee. The question is do they have the unity to do so.
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If it's another Scalia they will I think. A sane right winger though? No.

McCain will fight back when the time is right. You have to pick your battles. Rubio will do the same.
 
S

Shadynasty

Member
Filibuster is their only option, unless the GOP nukes the rest of the senates ability to filibuster nominees. Not even sure if they can/would do that.
 
I

Ithil

Member
Oblivion said:
Why wouldn't they?
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Because they know eventually they will lose control of the Senate, it's inevitable that power shifts to the other party at some point, and then they will have no filibuster to use themselves (which they used extensively during Obama's run).
 
A

Almighty

Member
Nice sentiment, but the republicans will just do what the democrats should have and remove the filibuster for SC picks. Trying to play it civil is going to bite the democrats in the ass yet again.
 
A

antonz

Member
Ithil said:
Because they know eventually they will lose control of the Senate, it's inevitable that power shifts to the other party at some point, and then they will have no filibuster to use themselves (which they used extensively during Obama's run).
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That is why people kept saying the Democrats should not make the changes they did but they did anyways and now the country suffers for it. The Republicans likely have a Solid grip on the Supreme court for 30-40 years. They are willing to take that risk. Just like selling their Souls for the Southern Strategy has given them enormous power.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Ithil said:
Because they know eventually they will lose control of the Senate, it's inevitable that power shifts to the other party at some point, and then they will have no filibuster to use themselves (which they used extensively during Obama's run).
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Except that have one to potentially THREE Supreme Court vacancies that they can fill that would have them set until the next century. They realize the stakes are way too high to not take advantage of such a thing.

Besides, once they ram through their nominees they can pass new voter suppression measures that their new SC will deem totally constitutional anyway.
 
S

Shadynasty

Member
Oblivion said:
Why wouldn't they?
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For the same reason I imagine Harry Reid most likely regrets his use of it. It furthers partisan divisions and frankly takes power away from the Senate and into the pocket of the executive branch and senate majority.

If dems had majority in the senate I imagine they would give no shits, but they don't. The GOP would be stupid to further nuke filibusters. In fact the smart move would be to reinstate them.
 
A

Ac30

Member
Oblivion said:
Except that have one to potentially THREE Supreme Court vacancies that they can fill that would have them set until the next century. They realize the stakes are way too high to not take advantage of such a thing.

Besides, once they ram through their nominees they can pass new voter suppression measures that their new SC will deem totally constitutional anyway.
Click to expand...

They'll probably ram somebody young through just to ensure they keep the conservative majority for decades.

Let's hope that Ginsburg lasts, my god.
 
G

Grover Cleveland

Member
Oblivion said:
Why wouldn't they?
Click to expand...

It's a short-sighted move that

A) Empowers your party opposition whenever they do (And they will) regain control of the Senate

B) Further empowers the executive branch and weakens Congress as a whole

C) Further enflames party division

Granted...Trump will be likely able to fill 3 SC seats by the end of his term, nuking the filibuster here is a move that would only hurt Republicans (and the legislative branch as a whole) in the long run.
 
G

Garrett Hawke

Member
This shouldn't even be happening in the first place.

If they do nuke the filibuster, I hope it comes around to get them so fucking hard next time.
 
S

sangreal

Member
GOP will absolutely kill the filibuster. McConnell has already said Trumps nominee will pass no matter what. The Republican side of the 'gang of 14' or whatever has already gone back on that when they refused to support Obamas pick

Make them do it and own it. It's really the only thing to do

The Democratic party did an abysmal job when it came to capitalizing on Republican obstruction so I don't have much hope
 
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