Violating her Article 1 authority, 80-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she would stop at nothing to prevent 74-year-old President Donald Trump and 78-year-old Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) from replacing the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ginsburg passed away Sept. 18 from a long battle with pancreatic cancer, prompting Trump and McConnell to call for an immediate replacement. Both fear with a possible disputed election coming up Nov. 3, it will take a full, nine-member Supreme Court to handle any contingency. When a disputed election took place in 2000 with Bush v. Gore, the election was decided in the Supreme Court Dec. 8, 2000 to stop recounts over Democrat objections. While the vote was 7-2, the possibility of a four-four hung court prompted Trump and McConnell to move forward with the nominee.
Pelosi’s Article 1 power to used her impeachment authority to delay confirmation on any Supreme Court pick shows clearly how Pelosi has weaponized the Constitution’s impeachment provision to advance her political agenda. Whatever McConnell did or said in 2006, denying former President Barack Obama another Supreme Court pick, it’s still completely legal and Constitutional for Trump to move forward nominating a replacement for Ginsburg. It’s also Constitutional for 65-year-old Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to hold confirmation hearings. What’s not Constitutional for Pelosi to abuse her Article 1 impeachment authority to stop Trump and McConnell from approving a replacement for Ginsburg. Democrats want the next president to pick Ginsburg’s replacement, believing that 77-year-old former Vice President Joe Biden will win the election.
Pelosi was asked by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, an extreme Democrat newsman, if there was anything Pelosi could do to stop Trump. Stephanopoulos told Pelosi that some Democrats think that impeaching Trump or 70-year-old Atty. Gen. Bill Barr could delay the Senate confirmation hearings. “Well, we have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now,” Pelosi told Stephanopoulos. “This president has threatened to not even accept the results of the election with statements that he and his henchmen have made,” Pelosi said. She and Stephanopoulos don’t say a word about former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urging Biden Aug. 8 to “not concede defeat under any circumstances.” Yet the propaganda just rolls off Pelosi’s lips talking about democracy. Pelosi’s plan to weaponize impeachment shows how she’d violate the Constitution.
Pelosi said she has taken an oath of protect the Constitution but is prepared to violate her Article 1 powers to use impeachment to prevent Trump and McConnell from proceeding to replace Ginsburg. “We have a responsibility,” Pelosi said. “We take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. We have a responsibility to meet the needs of the American people. That is when we weigh the equities, protecting our democracy requires us to use every arrow in our quiver.” Pelosi knows that Trump and McConnell are well within their Constitutional rights to appoint and vote on a replacement for Ginsburg. Pelosi may think it’s hypocritical based on McConnell’s logic in 2016 when he blocked Obama for getting his pick. But what McConnell did in 2016 was his Constitutional right under his Article 2 authority to decide not to advance Obama’s pick for confirmation.
McConnell’s decision today is based on new circumstances, namely, that the upcoming presidential election could be disputed and wind up in the Supreme Court, like Bush v. Gore in 2000. Trump and McConnell worry about a Constitutional crisis where the Supreme Court could be hung, four-to-four without confirming the ninth member. Pelosi has no Constitutional authority under her Article 1 power to abuse the impeachment authority as a stall tactic. No Supreme Court would accept Pelosi using her impeachment authority to delay Senate confirmation hearings on Ginsburg’s replacement. Pelosi’s hatred for Trump knows no limits, proving she’s willing to commit any crime, breach her oath of office, to stop Trump and McConnell from processing Ginsburg’s replacement. Pelosi needs four GOP Senators to oppose moving ahead with a replacement for Ginsburg.
Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), have all agreed to oppose Trump and McConnell’s attempt to move ahead with a replacement for Ginsburg. Other Senators may also join the fight against letting Trump and McConnell find a replacement. But threatening to use her impeachment authority to stall a Senate confirmation hearing goes beyond the pale, demonstrates flagrant disregard and contempt for the U.S. Constitution, no matter what Pelosi’s personal opinion. If the upcoming election weren’t expected to be disputed, it would probably be best to let the winner of the Nov. 3 election pick the next Supreme Court Associate Justice. Republicans must weigh the consequences of an eight-member Supreme Court with a possible disputed election. With Ginsburg gone, an eight-member court would probably still favor Republicans in any dispute.
