The U.S. Constitution is pretty straightforward on the process by which “We the People” have chosen to select Supreme Court justices. Article II, Section 2, says, “[The president] shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint … judges of the Supreme Court.”
The Republican-controlled Senate lives up to its constitutional duty by rejecting another liberal judicial activist on the court.
In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Iowa’s own senator and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, made the case for the majority’s actions. They wrote:
“Rarely does a Supreme Court vacancy occur in the final year of a presidential term, and the Senate has not confirmed a nominee to fill a vacancy arising in such circumstances for the better part of a century. So the American people have a particular opportunity now to make their voice heard in the selection of Scalia’s successor as they participate in the process to select their next president …
“No one disputes the president’s authority to nominate a successor to Scalia, but as inconvenient as it may be for this president, Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution grants the Senate the power to provide, or as the case may be, withhold its consent …”
They are absolutely right.
In fact, that has been the Democrats’ position until very recently.
Click here to read the full article on The Des Moines Register.