General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIdle speculation.
Suppose the Senate goes blue in November.
Suppose a Supreme Court seat becomes available.
Would the Senate be able to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland?
I mean, Merrick Garland was nominated by the President. Does it say anywhere in the rules that it has to be the current President?
Merrick Garland was never rejected by the Senate, so is his nomination still open?
unblock
(52,195 posts)Garland nomination officially expires
Nearly 300 days ago, on a sunny March morning, President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. That nomination officially expired today at noon, when the 114th Congress came to a close.
Obama could have nominated Garland again as a matter of principle, or he conceivably could have attempted to install him without the Senates consent during the recent congressional recess. Instead, the president took the less controversial path of letting the nomination expire. Garland now resumes his duties on the court of appeals.
needledriver
(836 posts)I was hoping for a loophole.
I guess a Democratic Senate could refuse to consider any future Trump nomination on the basis of the McConnell Rule: no Supreme Court nominee should be considered while there is a Presidential Campaign under way. Trump has already filed for 2020 and can accept campaign contributions.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Now, if Trump had a Democratic congress he had to work with to get anything he wanted, he and congress could conceivably make a deal put Garland on the court in return for something else. Maybe his wall. Garland is extremely highly respected by colleagues across the board; he's fairly moderate and chosen by Obama to be as acceptable as possible to both sides, so it's not ridiculous to at least imagine in some world it could happen.
I'd just hope not to be standing too close to anyone whose hair caught on fire on learning that, but Trump's a completely undependable whackadoodle and his base should not be surprised at anything. Of course, they always are.
Exotica
(1,461 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)the minority Republicans is possible. In only 6 months now.
Sadly agree about Gorsuch. Since his very name was turned into a wedge issue that has their crazed base acting out big time, and he's definitely more liberal than otherwise, I imagine a compromise candidate would have to be someone else.