On March 16, 2016, former president Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court. Garland was to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who had passed away a month earlier. Usually, when there is an open seat on the Supreme Court, a president is able to nominate a judge to fill it. The candidate goes through a process of confirmation and the Senate votes on whether the candidate is viable to serve on the Supreme Court.
Garland wasn’t nominated at any old time, though. Garland was nominated during an election year.
Mere hours after Scalia’s passing and a month before Garland was nominated by the president, Senator Mitch McConnell had already voiced his opposition. He cited that a nominee this close to the election is immoral and an injustice to voters, who he said should have a voice in the confirmation of a new Supreme Court Justice.
In fact, many Senate Republicans who are still serving on the Senate this year voiced their opposition to filling Justice Scalia’s seat. Lindsey Graham promised the public they could use his words against him in 2016 when he said the Republicans were setting a precedent as to not confirm a new Justice during an election year. Cory Gardner said the stakes were too high to consider a new Justice at that time. The list of quotes from various Republican senators goes on and on, vowing that the primary reason they would choose not to consider a new Justice was that the American people should elect a new president who better reflects their voices. Garland was never confirmed; in fact, he was never even granted a hearing. Sure enough, Donald Trump was able to nominate and confirm his own candidate in 2017.
This year, the Republican senators have changed their tune completely. Again during an election year, an opening on the Supreme Court became available. This time, though, it was only 46 days before the presidential election. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish was to not be replaced before a new president was sworn in.
Hours after her death, McConnell spoke again, this time promising his support of the president’s nominee. A week after Ginsburg’s death, President Donald Trump chose his nominee. Finally, after only about a month of hearings and eight days before election day, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Oct. 26.
There was no concern for the American people this time. There was no respect for the former Justice, who was considered a political legend by many. There was no hesitation. Nearly every Republican that spoke publicly in opposition of Garland’s nomination in 2016 voted for Barrett’s confirmation. Their excuses for her quick confirmation no longer echoed concerns for voters. Instead, they cited that they were simply doing their jobs.
In a situation with so many parallels, it is clear that the Senate Republicans do not care about their jobs, the American people or even the late Justice Ginsburg. They only care about winning. While they may have won the confirmation vote, they will never recover their credibility.
