Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party are willing to tear our country apart to stack the judicial system. While Harry Reid gets the blame of ending the filibuster for federal judges, it was McConnell’s abuse of the procedure that led to Reid using the so-called nuclear option. And McConnell, not Reid, ended the filibuster for Supreme Court justices. Now, he’s violating the new tradition he claimed to have begun four years ago. The hypocrisy is stunning. He and his enablers have irreparably damaged the institution of the Senate.
First, the story of the filibuster. Back in 2005, Democrats began filibustering George W. Bush’s appointees to the federal bench. Then-majority leader Bill Frist threatened to end the filibuster to get the judges approved. A bipartisan group of Senators came together and devised the compromise that left the filibuster intact while giving Bush some of his judges. That’s how the Senate is supposed to work.
Fast forward to 2013, the beginning of Obama’s second term. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell had blocked 79 of Obama’s appointees. Only 68 presidential appointees had been previously blocked in history of the country. McConnell’s abuse of the filibuster was far worse than anything the Democrats had done leading up Frist’s threat to end the filibuster. McConnell, though, refused to compromise and Reid pulled the trigger. McConnell later bragged about how many Obama appointments he blocked.
The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg exposes, once again, the insincerity of the Republican Party and its contempt for the norms and traditions meant to keep our governance more civil and orderly. Four years ago, when Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died, Mitch McConnell denied Barack Obama a Supreme Court appointment because, he claimed, we were in an election year. This year, that logic no longer holds. McConnell is trashing his own tradition, leaving no doubt that the only norm left in the Senate is use of raw power.
In another time, members of McConnell’s party who swore they would stick to that newly created tradition would abide by their promises. Not anymore. Republicans like Thom Tillis who pledged that they would not support the appointment of Supreme Court Justice in the year leading up to a presidential election just lied. There’s no way around it and, more significantly, they aren’t really trying to hide it. They are a party of liars where winning is the only thing that matters.
Mitch McConnell and his enablers have laid waste to the decorum and sense of honor that once ruled the “world’s greatest deliberative body.” The term no longer applies since McConnell has opted against compromise or respect for tradition his entire tenure as GOP Senate leader. Power is all that matters and keeping it in the hands of the party that is shrinking in size and stature is his goal. Our country is diminished by his leadership.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
“Normal”… sure, if by normal you mean “expected”. But there’s nothing new about it. McConnell’s power lust has always been there, and being promoted to majority leader only threw accelerant on the fire. Even as minority leader — where his self-proclaimed title as Guardian of the Gridlock began — it was patently obvious. The only thing “new” in this latest display is that they’re not bothering to even attempt to justify themselves anymore. They don’t feel a need to explain themselves to their constituents, because they no longer have constituents — they have shareholders. And most of us can’t afford to buy in.
But we — as a group — have done nothing to remedy the problem. No matter how egregious the malfeasance, the same people keep getting re-elected. We are the ONLY ones who can hold them accountable for their dereliction of duty. And we have failed to do that. Polling suggests there’s a chance we’ll wise up this cycle. History suggests that this newfound wisdom has a Best Before date of Jan 21.
Thank you for providing background info relative to what is happening today in the Senate. I wish you would submit this as an op-ed to the N&O.
Mr. Hill, thank you for a cogent column.
Something else has happened. There no longer is a sense of shame in politics, especially among McConnell and Trumpists. But not only has shame died, but so has the old political order. Several events brought us to this moment and gave rise to Trump. But the old political order of civility is gone. The country is the worse for it.
My hope is that the voters will hold officeholders such as McConnell, Trump, Collins, Tillis, Graham, et al, accountable on November 3. I don’t have much hope on most of those races, but I already have voted for Biden. I am worried that the country has gone mad and sold its soul and lost democracy. Let’ hope I am wrong.