Senate Democrats turned down the heat about talk related to expanding the Supreme Court or doing away with the legislative filibuster just days after some of their members threatened their party would do so if Republicans confirmed a Trump nominee before the election.
Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, called the idea that Democrats are threatening to end the filibuster and pack the courts to be “a heck of an assumption.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said of abolishing the filibuster, “I don’t believe in doing that. I think the filibuster serves a purpose. It is not often used. It’s often less used now than when I first came. And I think it’s part of the Senate that differentiates itself.”
Feinstein remained coy about whether she supported expanding and packing the high court, saying only, “Ask me when we win the majority.”
Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine would only say, “Republicans should keep their promise to the American public and to their Senate colleagues. They said over and over again, the same rule will apply to a Republican president as a Democratic president. And I just hope four of them will be good to their word.”
Not long after Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday, Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey tweeted, “Mitch McConnell set the precedent. No Supreme Court vacancies filled in an election year. If he violates it, when Democrats control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.”
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, urged his Senate colleagues to expand the courts if Trump’s nominee is confirmed before the election.
However, Senate Democrats told reporters Monday they were focused on other efforts related to making sure the next nominee is voted on after the inauguration, adding that “nothing was off the table.”
“My focus is really on the very immediate challenge of making sure that Americans are heard through the election by making sure the vote on this nominee occurs after the inaugural and the next president should be the one to choose the next Supreme Court justice,” Connecticut Democratic Sen. Dick Blumenthal told reporters. “I think we need to talk amongst ourselves before we talk publicly, but as many have said, nothing’s off the table.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, told members of the Democratic Caucus Saturday on a call that their party would seek retribution if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell went forth with filling the seat prior to the election.
“Let me be clear: If Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans move forward with this, then nothing is off the table for next year,” he said.
McConnell Monday on the floor of the Senate specified there is enough time to confirm a Supreme Court justice but did not say if the nominee would be considered before or after the Nov. 3 election.
“The Senate has more than sufficient time to process a nomination,” the Kentucky Republican said. “History and precedent make that perfectly clear.”
