RBG leaves the stage.

JoeMorgue said:
I think people didn't hear me.

We get McConnell/Trump/the Senate to delay the confirmation of a new Justice.

That means we don't have a full, functioning Supreme Court to make legal decisions during the election.

So what happens when Trump declares himself the winner before the absentee ballots are counted? Or throws out a state because their election was "rigged?"

What happens then?
Click to expand...
What makes you think Roberts wants 4 more years of Trump?
 
Babbylonian said:
Probably, but probably not more than a week after. They'll want to either flaunt their continued power or take revenge on the constituencies that voted out some of their stooges.
Click to expand...

Wait to see which lower court election issues might go to - then decide to fill it or not. If a lower court is likely to rule in Trump's favor then a tied SC is good for him. If a lower court is likely to rule against him, ram that new justice through in a day or two to be ready to overturn the lower court.

This may be ugly, very ugly.
 
This just shows how much the Americans have ****** up their political system.

A country's supreme court is not supposed to be political. It's supposed to be an independent entity. But in the US, it's one of the most political entities there is.

Politicians campaign on the supreme court. How insane is that?
 
Trump is still unaware of RBG's passing. He is talking about SCOTUS as people yell "Ginsburg is dead!" to try to clue him in.
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Trump is still unaware of RBG's passing. He is talking about SCOTUS as people yell "Ginsburg is dead!" to try to clue him in.
Click to expand...

He's aware now. He's made a generic statement.

President Trump appeared to hear the news about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's passing from reporters.

"Just now?" he responded, when asked about her death.

"She led an amazing life. What else can you say?" Trump said. "She was an amazing woman whether you agree or not she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life."

After his comments, Trump walked up the stairs to board Air Force One. Trump had been holding a rally in Minnesota when news of Ginsburg's death broke.
Click to expand...

CNN: https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/ru...ve-updates/h_35b64598bd2a5a6de197c568d91270f5

ETA: For what it's worth at this point the expression on his face in the picture in the CNN article does seem to be some recognizable negative human emotion. At least he didn't start giggling like a schoolgirl and pop a boner.
 
Last edited:
Bob001 said:
The real issue is that even if Trump loses and the Repubs lose the Senate, they will still control the Senate for two months. Nothing, even fear of electoral consequences, would prevent a lame-duck Senate from confirming somebody.
Click to expand...


That might not be as easy as people think. First the Republicans need to get the nominee approved by the senate judiciary committee. In order to do that, the committee needs to meet and vote to approve the nominee, which calls for a quorum.

But a quorum for the judiciary committee is different from a quorum for the senate itself. Only 7 members of the committee need to be present for the committee to meet -- but 9 members, including at least 2 members of the minority party, need to be present in order for the committee to conduct any business. And approving a nomination is pretty definitely in the conducting business category. So Democrats simply need to make sure that only 1 Democratic member comes to the committee meeting, in order to point out that there is not a quorum and therefore no business can be conducted.

If the Republicans are able to gain a quorum and pass a vote for the nominee to be sent to the senate for a full confirmation vote, again they will need to obtain a quorum as well as get a vote through. If Democrats are prepared to do whatever they can to prevent a vote (including walking out to prevent there being a quorum if filibustering and other procedural methods are blocked), it will take virtually every Republican returning to DC for the session to get the nominee confirmed. They may be willing to make that kind of effort, but I can see a number of GOP members who may not be willing to vote against the nominee finding reasons why they are not able to be in DC during the time between the nomination being submitted and January 3, when the new congressional term begins.
 
Nova Land said:
Actually the Florida Supreme Court is a lower court in the judicial hierarchy to the US Supreme Court, so I believe what I said is correct.

My point was simply that cases work their way up to the Supreme Court and what the Supreme Court is deciding is whether a previous ruling is correct. In the event of a tie on the Supreme Court, whatever the ruling was on the matter before the matter reached the Supreme Court would stand. So a tie in the Supreme Court does not create the kind of impossibly irreconcilable situation JoeMorgue appeared to fear it would.
Click to expand...

My point was that cases usually get to the Supreme Court after winding their way through the federal system, even after they are decided by the highest state court, and then they would usually start at the lowest federal level. I think it's unusual for any case to go from state courts directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
 
Puppycow said:
Yeah, that concerns me too. They have time to wait until after the election and then push the nomination through in December. Lame duck senators will have nothing to lose, and those who were reelected will figure it won't matter by the next time they are up for election.
Click to expand...

That's when Biden threatens to use the nuclear option, increase the number of seats on the bench.

Think about it, RBG is a liberal but the court will still be a 5-4 religious right leaning court if Biden replaces her.

OTOH, there will be tremendous pressure on Biden to put his foot down if a nominee is rushed through when Obama was denied his rightful nominee. Biden, with a Senate majority, can expand the court and take away that 5-4 advantage.
 
Murkowski has said that she would not vote to confirm a new nominee "before the election" but that still leaves open the question about the period after the election but before the next congress.

https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/0...uld-not-vote-for-a-justice-ahead-of-election/

“I would not vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee. We are 50 some days away from an election,” she said.
Click to expand...

Are reporters so dumb that they don't know there is going to be a lame duck session of congress?
 
Last edited:
Bob001 said:
The real issue is that even if Trump loses and the Repubs lose the Senate, they will still control the Senate for two months. Nothing, even fear of electoral consequences, would prevent a lame-duck Senate from confirming somebody.
Click to expand...

They have a tough map in 2022 as well. Grassley (IA), Burr (NC), Johnson (WI), Rubio (FL), Murkowski (AK), Portman (OH), and Toomey (PA) are all up. And the few vulnerable Dems will be fortified.
 
alfaniner said:
OK, I feel for her family of course, but...

For myself, I feel almost as devastated as when Trump was surprisingly elected, knowing it's going to be a ******-up ride for the next several years.

I'm going to have to turn off the news because hearing nothing but this and its implications over the next several days would be personally... detrimental, at the least.
Click to expand...

I already turned the news off. I just lost my dog 2 days ago and I can't take any more of this **** right now.
 
Puppycow said:
Murkowski has said that she would not vote to confirm a new nominee "before the election" but that's kind of leaves open the question about the period after the election but before the next congress.

https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/0...uld-not-vote-for-a-justice-ahead-of-election/

Are reporters so dumb that they don't know there is going to be a lame duck session of congress?
Click to expand...

She's putting off the decision. She can decide what to do after the election depending on who wins.
 
Ted Cruz on Fox

"I believe that the president should next week nominee a successor to the court, and I think it is critical that the Senate takes up and confirms that successor before Election Day, this nomination is why Donald Trump was elected."
 
Puppycow said:
Are reporters so dumb that they don't know there is going to be a lame duck session of congress?
Click to expand...

Yes, they are that dumb.

One of the more frustrating times in my memory was the two months after the 2008 election, where several TV pundits complained about Obama not doing anything about the housing market collapse. There had been an election, Obama had won, but he wasn't doing anything about the enormous economic crises we were facing.

They just could not internalize that Obama was not president yet.
 
Seems people are saying Romney is suggesting he won't confirm anyone until after election.
 
Random said:
Yes, they are that dumb.

One of the more frustrating times in my memory was the two months after the 2008 election, where several TV pundits complained about Obama not doing anything about the housing market collapse. There had been an election, Obama had won, but he wasn't doing anything about the enormous economic crises we were facing.

They just could not internalize that Obama was not president yet.
Click to expand...


Were they on Fox? It's hard to believe that mainstream journalists don't understand what president-elect means.
 
Ryokan said:
This just shows how much the Americans have ****** up their political system.

A country's supreme court is not supposed to be political. It's supposed to be an independent entity. But in the US, it's one of the most political entities there is.

Politicians campaign on the supreme court. How insane is that?
Click to expand...

I agree. It really shouldn't be a political thing at all, in an ideal world. But it's been political for a long time. Perhaps from the very beginning. Certainly since Roe v. Wade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom