McConnell Garland Supreme Court Matter
The President…shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law….
Article II, Section 2, Clause 2
Scope:
When Mitch McConnell and Charles Grassley refused to give the Senate’s Advice -a Constitutionally Mandated Duty- on the twice elected President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland- the Chief Judge of the DC Court of Appeals -( essentially the position most like Supreme Court Seat without being a Supreme Court Seat, as boring and uncontroversial a pick as can be imagined ) to the Supreme Court it was unprecedented event in the history of the United States– holding up the business of the United States of America for a group that did not exist at the time of the writing of the Constitution- the interests of the Republican Party. Further it was part of a clear pattern- more judges blocked- 79 during Obama’s tenure then have been blocked by the Senate in the history of the Senate (59)
Mitch McConnell refused to give Constitutionally Mandated Duty Presidential Appointment Advice and did so without a legitimate reason.
The actual reason was clear; do not allow the Constitutionally Elected President to Appoint Supreme Court Justices as he should Choose, unless he is a Republican President. This is not speculation but demonstrated by the statements of the Senate of time. The Intent was corrupt, naked power grab, as part of a deliberate, and public strategy to refuse to acknowledge the Power and Authority of the elected President. They did so, because the power of the Supreme Court had helped to keep their Party in Power for decades.
The reason for not stating a reason is also clear; naming that intent is what would be used in a trial for treason.
He held off for a year, and then rammed through the next President’s pick of Gorsuch, repealing the filibuster in order restoring the deciding vote to the conservative or Federalists on the Supreme Court.
In the previous 200+ years of precedent- the pattern is the same, Supreme Court vacancy, hearing, position filled in under 120 days, only with great cause*-is a nomination like Bork’s very normally with a vote that’s 60-40 or something, trends but doesn’t follow the party lines- no filibuster, a regular vote, a rare thing since Kentucky Senate Majority Leader McConnell has held the reigns of Senate power.
He Refused the Senate’s Constitutional responsibility to give Advice to the President on his Supreme Court pick, and far worse, cannot identify a legitimate reason to have done something so extreme to Obama but nothing to George W Bush or Donald J Trump- President Barack Obama relatively scandal free two Term President to seat a Supreme Court Justice, something which has never before happened, no vote at all, shut down the President. Far from perfect, but nothing that could be said for him that could not be said for the Republican Presidents of the Era. Total breach of authority and violation of separation of powers that are clearly delineated by text and by famous precedent.. Not even during the “Civil War” did something so blatantly unconstitutional happen
The President shall- by and with the Senate- Shall means it is a command, not a discretionary duty. While the letter of the law does not impose limits on the time frame- precedent does. Precedents and traditions, as a matter of law should not be overturned for transient causes, no cause given, or worst- a corrupt cause. The President had a right to Promote the Chief Judge of the DC Circuit to the Supreme Court, and the Senate’s got to have a reason, and has to have a vote. If Mitch McConnell conspired to refuse a Constitutionally mandated duty – process from occurring to maintain control of a branch- holding the operations of Justice to his will alone- delaying many cases by months and years so he gets his preferred Judicial nominees, either for himself or for the Republican Parties decision tree, this is coup d’etat. Affecting as it did a swing vote, which was used in several decision this past year to overturn precedents, and to squash legitimate functions of government that manage the election of other branches. This sort of behavior is the elements of treason.
Extreme examples of the principles
The letter of the law in the Constitution says all certificates shall be opened, but does not specifically state that ALL electoral votes are to be counted for all parties in the election. This does not qualify as a loophole that Joe Biden could have literally thrown away the electoral votes for the opposing party.
The precedent by not acknowledging this extreme deviation for no discernible value to the American people as a whole, for the bidding of his Party, is a prelude to lawlessness; get into office and do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law, while using resources created by law.
Authority quote
Congress has continued the practice to this day. The Supreme Court has held that Congress may not provide itself with the power to make appointments, Buckley v. Valeo (1976), but it is unclear how far Congress may go in setting qualifications for principal officers without contravening the Framers’ interest in assuring the President’s accountability for the initial choice. President James Monroe declared that Congress had no right to intrude upon the President’s appointing power. In Myers v. United States (1926), Chief Justice Taft declared that the qualifications set by Congress may not “so limit selection and so trench upon executive choice as to be in effect legislative designation.” In Public Citizen v. U.S. Department of Justice (1989), Justice Anthony Kennedy, concurring, opined that the President’s appointing power was exclusive, and that only the Incompatibility Clause (Article I, Section 6, Clause 2) limits the range of his choice. The Court, however, has yet to make a definitive statement on the issue.
And there is no more corrupt intent. Public statements demonstrate that Mitch McConnell deliberately held up the operation of the Federal Court Systems from sea to shining sea, a form of obstruction of Justice, because governments operation is the operation of Justice, such as it is or it isn’t. To have US Senator do that for the strength of his party’s position.. “strategically playing the game”, holding up people’s lives, costing taxpayer dollars, longer sentences, longer pre trial detention. So McConnell could maintain a Republican hold on the Supreme Court.
This so called conservative has been in Congressional power and set the record for filibusters, judicial filibusters, the largest increases in deficits in American history under Republican President
Path Forward
We believe to establish Justice in this country there must be a hearing on the matter, and that we need testimony from Obama, McConnell and the entire Senate Judiciary at the time. Supporting testimony from the Attorney General’s. It would be good to have a firmly established analysis of the judicial nomination patterns in context of 200 years of history in opinions from DC District Court.
In the future all such questions of Constitutionally Mandated Duty,should get on the record opinions from the Executive and Justice branches. Petitions from the public of tangible Constitutional theory
Any and all Judicial nominations that were denied or confirmed from 2009 till present must be examined and whether individually or as a class is a decision yet to be decided upon.
Footnote*
*- like Bork, a lawyer who despite great intellectual capacity- fired a special prosecutor, who investigated when a President ordered a burglary into the DNC headquarters. The person of any stripe, who thinks their duty is to aid in the obstruction of Justice has no business being called a Justice. Further he broke into DNC headquarters, then you expect Democrats to vote for him? Height of a hubristic pick.
