***To read the full blog, please check out the complete post on NewsBusters***
With the Senate’s Supreme Court confirmation vote of Judge Neil Gorsuch fast approaching, many are worried about the terrible precedent the Democratic Party’s filibuster will set. While others worry about nuking the filibuster rules. The politicization of Supreme Court confirmations has been going on for decades, but according to CNN’s Jake Tapper it’s all the GOP’s fault. “Going back in time to figuring out where this started to descend into the muck, is it fair to say that this was 16-years or so when Republicans really started to obstruct the appointments of justices,” he claimed on Monday’s The Lead.
“Cause we remember—we’re all old enough to remember believe it or not Scalia was confirmed with 98 votes, Ruth Bader Ginsburg with 96,” Tapper continued, “This used to be done in a very different way.”
16-years-ago? There was no Supreme Court nominee to confirm 16-years-ago. Tapper’s claim was as though he picked the number at random. President Bill Clinton’s last nomination was Stephan Breyer in 1994, while President George W. Bush’s first nomination of John Roberts wasn’t until 2005. Breyer was confirmed by a vote of 87 to 9, and Roberts was confirmed by 78 to 22. Both were pretty sizable margins.
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