While Democrats deploy Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s imaginable confirmation to update Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, some Republicans have tried to tell them they have no one else to blame yet.
Along with a photo of former Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, New York, a user came on Facebook to “remember” Americans what Reid had done in 2013.
“You see, before 2013, 60 votes were needed in the Senate to verify a Nominee to the Supreme Court, now a majority of 51 is needed. Do you know why? Because Harry Reid and his fellow Democratic senators voted to replace the rule with 51 called the “nuclear option” and pressed that button,” the message says.
The message noted that at the time, then-Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican for Kentucky, now the majority leader, opposed the change.
“So all of you Democrats, if your party hadn’t replaced the rule in 2013, you’d now have the votes to keep Trump from replacing Ginsburg,” the message continued. “If they need to blame for causing them to lose the chance to prevent Trump from occupying that seat, he can blame where he belongs, his own party and the other people he chose to run it. “
The message user did not respond to a USA TODAY comment request.
Fact Check: Post satire from Judge Amy Coney Barrett in a photo of ”the directory’ with a fake quote
In 2013, Democrats had a majority in the Senate, while President Barack Obama occupied the White House.
For 4 decades, a super-majority of 60 votes had been to promote all federal judicial candidates and leadership appointments, according to the Washington Post.
Senate Republicans then tried to obstruct several of Obama’s applicants in the U. S. Court of Appeals. But it’s not the first time For the District of Columbia Circuit, your selection for the Secretary of Defense and your possible selections to lead the National Labor Relations Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
In response, Reid orchestrated a motion to lower the Senate voting threshold to 51 to verify the maximum presidential nominations, but nominated for the Supreme Court.
These candidates, as well as legislation, can continue to be obstructed.
The Senate, controlled through democrats, voted 52-48 in favor of change, which has been called the “nuclear option. “
At the time, McConnell condemned the decision.
“This is a sad day in Senate history,” he told reporters, calling it a “take-to-power” through Democrats.
By 2017, roles had been reversed: Republicans had a majority in the Senate and President Donald Trump sat in the Oval Office.
After Senate Democrats, now a minority, obstructed the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, McConnell crafted his “nuclear option. “
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 52-48 for the voting threshold to verify Supreme Court nominees 60-51, according to the New York Times.
(The desire for a superma to 60 votes still exists for legislation. )
Once again, they both played the blame game.
“This is the most recent escalation of the court war on the left, the boldest to date,” McConnell said, referring to democratic efforts to obstruct the appointment of Gorsuch’s highest court.
Schumer, for his part, that when “history looms over what happened,” duty will fall on McConnell and the Republicans.
“They had options,” he says. “They chose this one. “
Fact-checking: no, that Schumer called Judge Amy Coney Barrett ‘completely out of the mainstream’
We compare this as FAUX, founded on research. The then Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, was not guilty of lowering the voting threshold to verify the Supreme Court nominees at 51; Instead, he orchestrated this replacement for court applicants and presidential appointments, excluding the Supreme Court. When Senate control was replaced, it was Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican for Ky. , who extended the replacement of the rule to apply to Supreme Court candidates in 2017.
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