“and
he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall
appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme
Court, and all other officers of the United States,”
President
Barack Obama shall, can, and will nominate a justice to replace the recently deceased
Antonin Scalia. It is his CONSTITUTIONAL duty to do so. Again citing the
Constitution, specifically Section 1 of the
20th Amendment, President Obama’s term expires on 20 January 2017 at noon.
There is still a bit of presidenting left for him.
For
Republicans to call for the seat to remain empty until after the election is reckless
and irresponsible. It shows that they are incapable to govern and I hope that voters
in the upcoming election understand that these people have no business in
running anything, let alone a country.
It
is not just blocking a Supreme Court justice that Obama has yet to announce. Senator
Mitch McConnell (KY, R) has made it known that there will not be any hearings
to vet the nominee. And he made that known HOURS AFTER SCALIA’S BODY WAS
FOUND!
Republicans
have obstructed Obama in every way imaginable during his presidency so that he
can’t fill key vacancies in our government that allows it to properly function.
It took invoking the so-called nuclear
option by Senator Harry Reid (NV, D) to get several lower court judges
confirmed and that was when Democrats held a majority of the Senate and Republicans
were abusing the filibuster.
At the
end of last year Senate Republicans blocked several key nominees and it
highlights their hypocrisy. Republicans talk tough about terrorism, but blocked
Adam Szubin’s appointment as the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism
and financial crimes because
they wanted to go home for Christmas. Never mind that a good way to stop
terrorism is to cut off the money flow which is what George W.
Bush did in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks.
Republicans
talk tough about illegal immigration flowing from Mexico, so wouldn’t it make
sense to have both countries representatives in communication about how to
solve this problem. One problem: we do not have a US
Ambassador to Mexico at this time. Roberta S. Jacobson
was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but her
nomination is being upheld by Senator Marco Rubio (FL, R) due to her work
in helping to normalize relations between the US and Cuba.
Republicans
talk tough about defense, but we do not have a Secretary of the Army. John H.
McHugh retired in November 2015 and President
Obama nominated Eric Fanning as his replacement. Fanning has served in
various roles in the Departments of the Navy, Air Force, and Army as well as
deputy director of the Commission on the Prevention of Mass Destruction
Proliferation and Terrorism. Fanning’s nomination hearing was held on 21
January, but a vote to schedule his confirmation to the Army’s highest post has
yet to happen.
We already
had an election on who gets to appoint Supreme Court justices, ambassadors, and
other officials.
It
happened in November 2012.
Maybe
Republicans have forgotten that.
Let’s
remind them.
After
all, it’s all there.
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