Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is not happy that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is set to retire under President Donald Trump — and he’s reportedly “putting the screws” to two Red State Democrats to make sure they will obstruct whomever Trump nominates.
Once again, it’s party over country for Schumer and his Democratic Party allies.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, moderate Democrats from “Trump country”, have been on the receiving end of Schumer’s icy warning.
His message? Get on board with Democrats, not Trump… or else I’ll come after you personally.
Schumer’s plan lies with two “moderate” Republican senators switching sides: Republicans well aware that they could lose two “moderates” in their own ranks, Alska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins.
If Schumer can keep Democrats unified and can swap two Republican moderates, he has a chance of holding up Trump’s Supreme Court nominee indefinitely.
“Democrats have repeatedly warned that [Roe v. Wade] — the landmark decision that legalized abortion rights in the United States — could be overturned if the Senate confirms Trump’s nominee. They have tried to galvanize opposition to the president’s potential pick, which he has not yet announced,” CNBC reported.
“Schumer has argued that the Senate should wait to vote on a new justice until after November’s midterm elections, when Democrats have an outside chance of taking a majority in the chamber and blocking the president’s choice.”
Schumer’s attempts to keep moderate Democrats in the fold, in the face of withering pressure from a liberal base that refuses to compromise, is one of the biggest challenges of his 18-month tenure as Democratic leader, according to Politico.
They continued, “Manchin and Donnelly both supported Amy Coney Barrett, one of Trump’s top contenders for the Supreme Court, for a circuit court post last year, in addition to their votes for Gorsuch. But Democrats and their activists insist that this nomination will have higher stakes for red-state Democrats.”
“People remember the [Neil Gorsuch] fight. My sense is that this will be different,” Ben Wikler, Washington director of the liberal MoveOn.org, warned.
Unless Collins and Murkowski are totally on board, Schumer may be right… and it seems like he’s willing to bet our country’s future on it.
— The Horn editorial team