Conservative judicial activists are thanking Senate Republicans for blocking President Obama from naming Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, citing that decision as a significant factor in Donald Trump’s stunning and decisive Tuesday win.
The power to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court was a major factor in 21 percent of voters’ decisions on Election Day, and a majority of those voters, 57 percent to 40 percent, pulled the lever for Trump, according to an ABC News exit poll.
Carrie Severino, the chief counsel and policy director for the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, who clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas, Wednesday morning thanked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, for holding the line and blocking Garland’s nomination so the next president had the chance to select a nominee after hearing from voters.
“Thank you … for giving the American people a voice in filling the vacancy left by Justice Scalia’s untimely death,” Severino said in a statement. “The people deserved to be heard yesterday and their voice was unmistakable.”
“A sizable majority of voters named lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court as one of the most important factors in their voting decision,” she said. “I share their concern and look forward to working with both President Trump and the new Senate to protect and defend the Constitution.”
Senate observers on both sides of the aisle say Democrats will be more motivated than ever to block Trump’s high court nominees after the GOP’s decision to block Garland. Republicans could then in turn change Senate rules to allow a simple majority, instead of a 60-vote threshold, for Supreme Court confirmations, what some are referring to as the “thermonuclear” option.
After Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., went “nuclear” when Democrats held the majority in 2013 and changed Senate rules to allow simple majority votes for most presidential nominees, longtime observers on the right argue Republicans would have little choice to apply that same principle to high court picks if Democrats try to block Trump’s nominees.
During the campaign, Trump released several different lists of potential high court picks after working with the conservative Federalist Society and others on the right to develop it. The 11 judges Trump first mentioned as potential top choices are:
Steven Colloton, a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; Allison Eid, Colorado Supreme Court justice; Raymond Gruender, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit; Thomas Hardiman, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit; Raymond Kethledge, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit; Joan Larsen, Michigan Supreme Court justice; Thomas Rex Lee, associate justice on the Utah Supreme Court and the brother of GOP Sen. Mike Lee; William Pryor, of the 11th Circuit; David Stras, associate justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court; Diane Sykes, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit; and Don Willett, a justice on the Texas Supreme Court.
