After two days of relative comity in the Senate Judiciary Committee, what prompted this tongue-lashing from chair Lindsey Graham? Democrats on the panel played some games with quorums this morning in an attempt to stall the next phase of the hearings, and a few lashed out at Graham for breaking “norms” by supposedly rushing Amy Coney Barrett through the confirmation process.
The lowlight of these games came when Dick Durbin insisted that Graham was breaking the rules by proceeding without two Democrats present. Graham was scheduling the committee vote at the time, which will trigger the floor vote in the full Senate that Democrats have no way to stop:
Judging by his exhausted demeanor, Graham was fully expecting the Democratic panelists to try and stop the proceedings to confirm Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. First it was Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who told the chairman he could not move forward until at least another member of the minority was present. Then Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) interjected to introduce a motion to delay the vote.
“No, we’re not going to do that,” Graham said, shaking his head.
Wait — if Durbin said Graham needed two Democrats, how did Blumenthal not count towards the quorum? Blumenthal was hiding in the hallway at the time:
Magically, they all have shown up! https://t.co/WoYmsVKqbe
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) October 15, 2020
And members of Congress wonder why people revile them.
Anyway, Graham made it clear that he wasn’t going to brook any more obstructionism, and more importantly, why:
Graham, who said in 2016 an election year vacancy under a GOP president shouldn't be filled, says "after Kavanaugh, everything's changed for me"
"I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and watch one of our nominees be destroyed after showing respect for two Democratic nominees" pic.twitter.com/SihbqeNwTU
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 15, 2020
Fair enough. So what happens now? Barrett’s not exactly on a glide path to the nomination, Fox’s Chad Pergram explained on Twitter, but there’s not much Democrats can do but delay it for a short period of time. Best guess, even with some extraordinary Democratic maneuvering, would put Barrett’s confirmation on October 30 at the latest. Here are the highlights of that reasoning, assuming Graham hands off the nomination on the 22nd as planned:
14) By rule, the Senate can begin voting to end debate on the nomination one hour after the Senate meets, following the intervening day. Again, if they really want to hit the gas, this COULD happen at 1 am et on Sunday October 25.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 15, 2020
17)….the Senate would vote to end debate on the nomination. That entails a simple majority. Once cloture on the nomination is “invoked” (halting a filibuster), debate is then limited to 30 hours.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 15, 2020
19) That’s why we believe the actual confirmation of Barrett won’t happen until the middle of end of the week of October 25. Likely sometime between October 28-30.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 15, 2020
That raises the stakes for Democrats, though, more than it does for Republicans. Not only does that keep enthusiasm and interest stoked among Trump’s base for as long as possible, just days before Election Day, it also keeps focus on Amy Coney Barrett rather than Trump, too. Why allow that to transpire when there is no real way to stop the confirmation? Barrett delivered an impressive performance over the last two days while Democrats mainly pontificated on election issues. The longer that Barrett is the face of the GOP in this election, the worse off Democrats will be — and the closer their impotence comes to Election Day, the worse the disillusion will be among their base.
They’d be smarter to just yank the Band-Aid off now, ask Graham to call a vote this afternoon, and let McConnell finish this next week. Their antics this morning show they’re not terribly bright about this, however, so let’s keep popping that popcorn all the way to Halloween.
Addendum: Let’s also toast the ending of this hearing, which is … rather surprising (via Twitchy):
As Republicans wrap up the Amy Coney Barrett hearing with plans to vote, Dianne Feinstein praises Lindsey Graham: "I just want to thank you. This has been one of the best set of hearings that I've participated in," she tells him. "Thank you so much for your leadership." pic.twitter.com/I3oXSYpVDk
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 15, 2020
Senator @LindseyGrahamSC and @SenFeinstein shake hands and hug after the #SCOTUShearings conclude.
Full video here: https://t.co/lKxfaDOIaZ pic.twitter.com/rj1diSUxAQ
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 15, 2020
