Delaney Statement on the Future of the Supreme Court

Statement

Congressman John K. Delaney (MD-6) releases the following statement:

"Senator McConnell's decision to ignore President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland in 2016 will go down in history as a shameless betrayal of the spirit of our democracy and of the purpose of the Supreme Court: to uphold the Constitution in an unbiased and non-political way. In a single move, he exposed as hollow decades of his own rhetoric about his supposed belief in the institutional history of the United States Senate. At the moment of truth, he put party over country.

"So now, we have before us a sadly familiar dilemma -- how do we respond after so many norms of respect, civility and non-partisanship have been destroyed? Upon reflection, it is clear that we really only have one option, which is to restore civility, judicial independence, and begin acting with integrity again. Senator McConnell has an opportunity to do the right thing and make right his prior neglect for our democracy. He should do so.

"For the good of our nation, President Trump should nominate a Supreme Court Justice in Kennedy's mold of reasonable deliberation, and that is exactly what Senator McConnell, and the Senate as a whole, should demand. We should return to a 60-votes requirement for Supreme Court nominees, and if President Trump and Senator McConnell can't meet that standard, then they should meet their own and wait until after the next election is held."

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