Fox News points out the obvious progression of events here: “As Mara Liasson wrote for NPR in 2016: “During Obama’s eight years in office, the Democrats have lost more House, Senate, state legislative and governors seats than under any other president.” She noted that the Obama legacy includes “one huge failure: a diminished Democratic Party.”
“In 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., invoked the so-called “nuclear option,” discarding traditional filibuster protections for the minority party in favor of requiring only a simple majority to approve judicial and executive branch nominees. He carved out an exception for people put forward for the Supreme Court.
“The next year – with CNN describing President Obama as an “unpopular president limping through his second term” – Republicans reclaimed control of the Senate. As a result of that achievement, President Obama’s chances of securing a liberal majority on the high court all but disappeared.
“In the spring of 2016, Senate Republicans blocked a vote on Judge Merrick Garland, who President Obama nominated to the Supreme Court following the d***h of Justice Antonin Scalia. The Republicans said the looming election should allow Americans to decide which party’s president could appoint the next Supreme Court justice.
“Last year, with partisanship riding high in the Senate, Republicans extended Reid’s majority rule provision to include Supreme Court justices, clearing the path for confirming Judge Neil Gorsuch to become a Supreme Court justice. President Trump’s pick to take Justice Kennedy’s place will have to win a majority of Senate votes, which is no mean task.”
But remember that Trump is a master negotiator and deals will be cut here. His Supreme Court pick will get through using the “nuclear option” – it is a virtual certainty. On top of that, what really has the left wigged out is the possibility of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide, being overturned. They have totally come unglued over it and there are a couple of progressive Republicans also in that camp. Three Republican senators: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Susan Collins of Maine, all have stated they will not vote for a Supreme Court nominee who suggests he or she might not respect the precedent of earlier rulings allowing abortion. John McCain cannot be counted on here either as he is suffering from terminal brain c****r, so his vote will be absent.