22 September 2020 — 0950 mdt
The issue was decided on 8 Nov. 2016
Romney kills Democratic hopes of blocking confirmation
of Trump’s nomination to replace Ginsburg on SCOTUS
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) announced this morning that he supports voting on President Trump’s nomination to replace Justice Ruth Ginsburg, who died last week, on the U.S. Supreme Court. Unless two more Republican senators join Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) in agreeing that the man elected President on 3 November should choose Ginsburg’s replacement, a possibility more remote than a snow cone’s not melting in a blast furnace, a jurist from the theocratic right will join the court.
Romney’s announcement confirms what the cognoscenti have always known: Democrats are powerless to block the confirmation of a justice nominated by Trump. The issue was settled on 8 November 2016 when Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, and the voters put a Republican majority in the senate. Whether a justice could be confirmed in a lame duck session following the defeat of an incumbent president running for re-election was settled when the constitution was confirmed.
The only option for rescuing the nation from a long term reactionary supreme court is adding two or four justices to the nine that were authorized by Congress in 1869. That’s constitutionally permissible, — additional justices should have been added decades ago — but the issue is difficult politically because of Franklin Roosevelt’s 1937 attempt to add justices that blew up in his face. (The opposition to FDR’s “court packing” proposal was led by Burton K. Wheeler, Montana’s Democratic senator.)
How Democrats should spend Ginsburg inspired contributions
Democrats have raised tens of millions of dollars since Ginsburg’s death, but that money will not prevent Trump’s nominee from being confirmed. It may, if spent wisely, help Democrats win the presidency and the senate, and to win state gubernatorial and legislative elections.
Because there is no way for Democrats to block the confirmation of Ginsburg’s successor, they should channel their dismay, their outrage, and their newly raised money, into (a) winning this election, and (b) adding justices to the court once they control the White House and congressional majorities. After that, I favor amending the constitution to have judges and justices serve fixed terms instead of for life.
In Montana, the most important statewide election for Democrats is for governor, where Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte leads Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney by approximately six points. Gianforte, whose wealth allows him to treat the election like an auction, just donated another million dollars to his campaign in his determination to be the highest bidder.
Montana’s second most important election for Democrats is for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican Steve Daines, who has a one point lead over Gov. Steve Bullock according to the latest NYTimes/Siena College poll (the poll, rated A+ by FiveThirtyEight, is slightly flawed but should not be dismissed). Bullock could help Democrats gain control of the senate.
Democrat Kathleen Williams, running a smart campaign, leads Republican Matt Rosendale, Montana’s auditor, by three points according to the NYT/Sienna poll. She has the best chance of winning of all statewide Democrats, but her race is the least important to Montana’s Democrats. Indeed, I would sacrifice her and Bullock on the altar of electing Cooney.