Skip to main content

Ayotte, Hassan at odds on filling Supreme Court vacancy

Image
News Date
Body

By Paul Briand

That didn’t take long.

No sooner had Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan issued niceties and condolences Saturday on the sudden death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, they issued competing statements Sunday evening about what should happen next.

The issue is whether it’s up to the current president or the next president to pick Scalia’s successor.

Hassan came down on the side of the current president. Ayotte came down on the side of the next president.

That separation will become a key issue in the campaign that decides whether Ayotte remains a U.S. senator from New Hampshire or whether Hassan replaces her. It is also endemic of the political divide that exists nationally between Democratic and Republican leaders over who should make the appointment that is seen as critical to the future ideological balance of the nation’s highest court.

Scalia was found dead Saturday while on a hunting trip in Texas. Even before his body was returned to his Virginia home, politicians started taking sides.

On the one side is President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats. Obama said he will do his constitutional duty and recommend a new associate justice to the U.S. Senate for review and confirmation.

Hassan, in a statement Sunday night, said:
Failing to take up a Supreme Court nomination is a complete abdication of the Senate's constitutional duty. Senator Ayotte's decision to put her party leaders ahead of our country is a sad reflection of just how wrong her priorities are and how broken Washington has become.

On the other side is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans - including those running for president - who say it should be up to the next president to make the appointment since Obama has a year left in his lameduck term.

Ayotte, in a statement Sunday night, said:
We’re in the midst of a consequential presidential election year, and Americans deserve an opportunity to weigh in given the significant implications this nomination could have for the Supreme Court and our country for decades to come. I believe the Senate should not move forward with the confirmation process until the American people have spoken by electing a new president.

Not lost in all this is the irony of this president’s constitutional authority and the Republicans who oppose him.

The Republicans fault his use of recent executive power as an affront to the constitution. Yet, with his announced intent to exercise constitutional authority to replace a Supreme Court justice, they oppose his intent to do so.
 

Comments

Login or register to post comments

Thank you to our sponsors and donors