Flashback: Kaine Is For Using ‘Nuclear Option’ For SC Nominees

Eric Scheiner | March 28, 2017
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“If these guys think they’re going to stonewall the filling of that vacancy or other vacancies, then a Democratic Senate majority will say, ‘we’re not going to let you thwart the law.  And so we will change the Senate rules to uphold the law, that the court will be nine members,” Sen. Tim Kaine said to the Huffington Post in October of 2016.

Of course back when he said that, Kaine was a vice-presidential candidate on the ticket with Hillary Clinton, who would have nominated the appointees if she had won the election.

Kaine claimed it was very important to have a Supreme Court with nine sitting justices.

 

 

“And the battle is, do we want a lawfully constituted full court or will we let the Republicans have a hobbled limited and weakened court?” Kaine said.

“And this really is unprecedented, and the thing that’s unprecedented about it is this, the Senate has to advise and consent. That doesn't mean you have to vote ‘yes’, you can vote ‘no’. It’s not a rubber stamp. What these guys are doing is, ‘wait a minute we don't have to vote yes or no’ - and maybe we can trick our voters into not holding us accountable for not voting yes or no.’”

This “trick” was something Kaine said senators would stop.

“Well the voters are going to stop them or we are going to stop them. And when I say we, I am a U.S. Senator and I’m going to be a U.S. Senator through the end of the year and maybe beyond. But I am a U.S. Senator.”

“I have a prediction, this is not a guarantee and I'm not revealing inside intel, but I was in the Senate when the Republicans stonewalling around appointments caused Senate Democratic majority to switch the vote threshold on appointments, from 60 to 51. And we did it on everything but a Supreme Court justice,” Kaine said.  

“If these guys think they’re going to stonewall the filling of that vacancy or other vacancies, then a Democratic Senate majority will say, ‘we’re not going to let you thwart the law'.  And so we will change the Senate rules to uphold the law, that the court will be nine members.”

“So it sounds like you’re predicting, Harry (Reid) will follow through in what has been so far sort of a subtle, veiled, threat to change the filibuster rules for the Supreme Court,” the host said.

“I am predicting that if the Republicans continue to stonewall, then I think that will happen. Again, I’m not revealing inside intel this is a prediction,” Kaine said.

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