A lot can be accomplished in 125 days. It took less time than that for the Allies to liberate Paris after D-Day. And Franklin Roosevelt’s first 100 days are still remembered for the incredible amount that was accomplished in such a short time.
So surely the United States Senate could manage to hold a hearing within 125 days for an unquestionably qualified, uncontroversial Supreme Court nominee with strong support from across the ideological spectrum. But the Republicans who control the Senate have continued to simply pretend that President Obama hasn’t nominated anyone to fill the vacancy. And at Day 125 of the nomination, the GOP has set a shameful record: D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Merrick Garland is now the longest pending Supreme Court nominee in American history, and he still has not been allowed to have a committee hearing.
Of course, Senate Republicans can act quickly when they want to. For instance, it was only a few hours after Justice Antonin Scalia’s untimely death that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that, contrary to all precedent, the Senate would refuse to consider anyone nominated by President Obama to fill the vacancy, no matter who it might be. This was at a time when there was still nearly a full year left in Obama’s presidency, so McConnell’s lightning-fast decision for obstruction and politicization guaranteed that the Court vacancy would remain open not only for the rest of that Supreme Court term, but also for most or even all of the following term as well.
Unfortunately, neither McConnell nor his fellow GOP senators seem to care about the damage an extended vacancy can do to a Court characterized by important and headline-grabbing 5-4 decisions. These are analyzed in Material Harm to Our System of Justice: The Consequences of an Eight-Member Supreme Court, a report by our affiliate People For the American Way Foundation and the Constitutional Accountability Center. Senate Republicans are unmoved that their unprecedented obstruction is politicizing what is supposed to be an apolitical institution. They are not bothered that their unprecedented obstruction is harming their constituents and people and businesses across America.
But if they don’t care about harming the Constitution, the American judicial system, and their own constituents, maybe these GOP senators will care if it hurts them. They should be concerned about the finding in a new polling memo out today from the Constitutional Responsibility Project and Hart Research. The memo shows that:
- As the GOP’s obstruction has dragged on, even more voters want a hearing than on the day he was nominated. National surveys have all registered at least 60 percent in favor, with political independents and voters in battleground states with vulnerable Republican senators demonstrating comparable levels of support.
- Nearly two-thirds of voters consider it to be “wrong” that Senate Republicans are refusing to hold hearings.
- In battleground states, support for Garland’s nomination grows as voters learn more about his background and extensive qualifications.
- At least seven out of ten voters think Republicans are playing politics with the Supreme Court, and a supermajority is convinced that the Senate is failing to fulfill its constitutional duty. No GOP framing to justify their obstruction is considered nearly as compelling.
- In key battleground states, 40 percent or more of voters say that they are less likely to support incumbent senators because they are obstructing Chief Judge Garland’s nomination. At the same time, most voters don’t seem to know what their own senator’s position is. So when they find out, vulnerable GOP senators could find themselves even more vulnerable.
So on this record-breaking 125th day of the GOP’s refusal to do its job, let us hope that Senate Republicans will move to hold a hearing and vote on Judge Garland as soon as they return in September, even if it’s only to save their own skin.