My action was challenged by a friend of mine who took exception to my move. He stated that my exhortation to the Senate to continue delaying the confirmation of this replacement was an exhortation to defy the US Constitution.
He strongly believes that the Senate is morally and legally obligated to confirm the next Supreme Court Justice now and not wait until a new US President begins serving.
The Democratic Party's US President, Barak Obama, insists on nominating a replacement Supreme Court justice for the late Antonin Scalia before his term as President ends early next year. The US Constitution gives him that authority. No one doubts about that.
The Constitution also gives authority to the United States Senate to delay confirming a replacement for this late Supreme Court Justice. I don't think that Senate Majority Leader would have dared take that position if he did not know he had such constitutional powers available to him.
Moreover, the Senate of the nation has constitutional powers giving it the authority to do that in its separation of powers clause.
This is a very controversial conflict going on and it's happened in the past. It happened several times in fact. President Tyler dealt with an obstructionist Senate in his efforts to put in a Supreme Court justice after a predecessor died.
Currently, we have a Democratic president in power who wants to put in a liberal Supreme Court Justice with the passing of Justice Scalia. We have a Republican-controlled Senate saying "Not so fast, Mr. President. There's a presidential election due this year and the replacement for Justice Scalia will have to wait till the next US President is inaugurated in 2017. And it won't be you, Sir, Mr. Obama."
This situation obviously rattles Obama at seeing his mouthwatering opportunity to again influence the Supreme Court being dangled in front of him by fate and not being able to eat any of it. It must really rile him and many liberal Democrats that this is now happening.
The Senate now has fifty four seats in Republican control whereas the Democrats hold forty six seats. The Senate Majority Leader is Mitch McConnell whereas the Senate Minority Leader is Harry Reid.
The confirmation process were it to begin now, would take place in the Senate Judiciary Committee being chaired currently by Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley.
The US Senate although currently controlled by Republicans has a Democratic Party President who is the current US Vice President Joseph Biden of Delaware. Mr. Biden was a Senator himself from when he won the seat in 1973 until he stepped down in 2009 to serve as US Vice President.
During his period as US Senator for Delaware, he rose to chairman of both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee before that between 1987 to 1995.
The Democrats view the Senatorial refusal to confirm now as an obstruction on the part of the Republican leadership that now prevails there.
Yet, back when the current Vice President, and Vice President to President Obama who's the president eagerly seeking a replacement for Antonin Scalia, Joseph Biden, was the Chairperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee, the President then was George Herbert Walker Bush, a Republican.
And during that time, the US Senate was controlled by Democrats who numbered fifty seven and the Majority Leader then was George Mitchell of the State of Maine. Chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee was the current Vice President of the country, Joseph Biden.
Why am I talking about Joseph Biden when he was Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman in 1992?
What does all this talk of Joseph Biden have to do with what's going on now with Obama wanting to replace Antonin Scalia and the Republicans who control the Senate not letting him do that? I'll give you a clue.
The shoe was on the other foot back then. For the Democrats it was advantageous to prevent the Republican President then from getting a Supreme Court Justice of his choice get confirmed - especially since 1992 was a presidential election year and the Democratic Party's candidate, William Jefferson Clinton, was expected to defeat the Republican sitting President Bush.
So we have the very same situation taking place but with the Democrats and the Republicans occupying reversed roles.
What's this about me and others like me exhorting the Senate to ignore or obstruct their constitutional duties to replace Scalia when back in 1992, a high ranking Democratic Party Senator and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman advocated on the Senate floor the very same thing I am petitioning the Senate to do now?
You can't have it both ways, Mr. Obama. You just can't delay the confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice when your party controls the Senate and then expect your wishes to be honored when your opponents control the Senate and you're the President seeking to put in a new Supreme Court Justice and there's a new Presidential election this very year.
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