GOP leaders ignore Trump-inspired calls to confirm Garland now

“Republicans must know that there is absolutely no chance that we will win the White House in 2016 now”, Leon Wolf, author of the conservative blog RedState, wrote Wednesday. “We know how to solve problems”. Garland was nominated to the Supreme Court after Justice Antonin Scalia died.

Former U.S. solicitor general Ted Olsen wrotein the Wall Street Journal last week that there should be a truce between the parties to diminish the acrimony of the current Supreme Court nomination, and Republican politician Ken Blackwell responded in Townhall by saying a ceasefire on Garland would only benefit liberals (which is likely true).

But with Texas Sen. “No better example of that than blocking the Supreme Court nominee right in lockstep with Trump”, the Nevada Democrat told reporters on a conference call Thursday in his first public comments since Trump became the presumptive nominee.

“I want to give our nominee a little space”, Johnson said, indicating that it takes quite awhile for someone in the private sector to get up to speed on the key issues.

As for the conservative groups opposing the Garland nomination, they continue to defend the Senate’s position against holding hearings this election year.

Meanwhile, between now and November, President Obama and the Democrats will keep squeezing McConnell and his recalcitrant compadres (particularly in states where Republicans are up for re-election). It seems likely he’ll use that political power to push harder for the ultra-conservative agenda he has been touting across the country for more than a year.

Or Republican Senators could place their bets on Trump winning the White House. They’ve already devoted so much time to wrapping themselves in “principle” and disingenuous arguments about the sanctity of the Supreme Court that they’d come off as massive hypocrites. Because Trump is “not a reliable, consistent conservative”, his nominee could be just as distasteful to conservatives as Mrs. Clinton’s, if she were to be elected.

Initially, Republicans wanted to sit on Garland until after Obama leaves office.

The Huffington Post cites polling that shows Trump would lose 47% to 40% to Clinton in November while being the “least popular major party nominee in modern history”. Kelly Ayotte have yet to issue a statement reversing their previous opposition to Garland. South Dakota senator Mike Rounds took that same position, as did SC senator Lindsey Graham and Arkansas senator John Boozman. Lindsey Graham or Nebraska Sen.

Reid also said the rise of Trump has broadened the number of Republican seats he thinks are up for grabs, although he stopped short of predicting a Democratic takeover of the Senate.

Defendants have waived their right to advice and consent by (a) stating publicly and on the Senate floor that they refuse to advise and consent on the nomination of Merrick Garland, (2) putting pressure on other Republicans not to advise and consent, and (3) refusing to advise and consent.

HRC hosted a call today for LGBT and allied organizations to provide an update on the status of Merrick Garland’s nomination, what’s at stake for the LGBT community and ways that groups can help advance the nomination.