Democratic Senator Now Argues That ‘The Supreme Court Can Function With Eight Members’

By Josh FeldmanJan 31st, 2017, 7:06 pm
 

Remember how outraged Democrats were when Republicans blocked Merrick Garland because the Supreme Court was functioning with only eight justices? Well, about that.

The Washington Post‘s Dave Weigel has a report out today about how liberal activists are cheering on and pressuring Senate Democrats to resist President Trump‘s nominees, especially where the Supreme Court is concerned.

Senator Richard Blumenthal said yesterday he will “actively use every legal tool” if Trump picks an “extremist, unqualified nominee”:

And as Weigel reports, Blumenthal went on to say this today:

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters Tuesday that he would consider any Trump nominee “based on the merits,” which was hardly as volcanic as the language from the left. But when he clarified what that meant, he opened the door to a four-year filibuster.

“One of the unfortunate consequences of the Garland obstructionism has been to show that, in fact, the Supreme Court can function with eight members,” Blumenthal said.

The only problem with that is this remark from Blumenthal on MSNBC’s Hardball last year in talking about Garland:

“There’s a duty to fill that vacancy, to make the system work. Our constitutional system depends on nine members serving on the Supreme Court, which is why there has never been a vacancy in the last, I think, 30 years lasting longer than 237 days.”

Also, #WeNeedNine:

[image via screengrab]

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Josh Feldman - Senior Editor

Josh Feldman is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Email him here: josh@mediaite.com Follow him on Twitter: @feldmaniac