Democrats Announce Plan to Filibuster President Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee

Earlier today, The Political Insider reported that President Donald Trump will formally announce his Supreme Court nominee on Tuesday night, an individual who will succeed the late-Justice Antonin Scalia.

While many media outlets are reporting that President Trump will select between Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman, Democrats have already pledged to filibuster any Supreme Court nominee, regardless of who the individual is.

Remember just two weeks ago when Democrats were screaming that Republicans were obstructing democracy by not working with President Obama?

From Politico:

With Trump prepared to announce his nominee on Tuesday evening, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in an interview on Monday morning that he will filibuster any pick that is not Merrick Garland and that the vast majority of his caucus will oppose Trump’s nomination. That means Trump’s nominee will need 60 votes to be confirmed by the Senate.

“This is a stolen seat. This is the first time a Senate majority has stolen a seat,” Merkley said in an interview. “We will use every lever in our power to stop this.”

Merkley’s party leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, has said he will fight “tooth and nail” any nominee who isn’t “mainstream.”

Unsurprisingly, conservatives have swiftly taken to Twitter to blast Democrats for planning to filibuster President Trump’s nominee even before that individual has been announced:

President Trump has already pledged his support for the “nuclear option” if Democrats filibuster his Supreme Court nominee. The “nuclear option” is a procedural method within the Senate rules which would eliminate the 60-vote-threshold for certain votes. If Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invokes the “nuclear option” then President Trump’s nominee would only need a simple majority to be confirmed.

While Democrats may see their actions as merely doing their jobs as senators, when Republicans did the very same things, they were called “obstructionists.” In fact, the liberal Huffington Post actually penned a piece attacking then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for working to oppose President Obama’s liberal agenda, but had the audacity to run this headline praising the upcoming Democrat filibuster: “Senate Republicans Were Wrong To Block Obama, But Senate Democrats Are Right To Block Trump.”

The double standard here couldn’t be more obvious, and the left doesn’t seem to care. When Republicans fight back against Democrats they are obstructionists but when it’s the other way around, Democrats are simply standing up for their principles.

Are you surprised that Democrats are planning to filibuster any Supreme Court nominee of President Trump? Should the Senate institute the “nuclear option?” Share your thoughts below! 

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