GOP Blocks Garland, Then Rushes Barrett
🟠 Erosion of Democratic Norms ·
Feb 2016, Oct 2020
Summary
In February 2016, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland with 220 days remaining until election day. Senate Majority Leader McConnell refused to hold confirmation hearings for Garland, stating that vacancies should not be filled in election years. McConnell, through delaying until the certification of Donald Trump over 270 days later, gave Obama’s pick to Trump. Then, in September 2020, Justice Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg died 46 days before the election, with millions of votes already cast. McConnell ignored his own unprecedented reasoning from four years prior, and rushed Amy Coney Barrett through in 30 days. The Brookings Institution documented that McConnell’s ‘divided government’ justification had no historical basis and was invented retroactively. Barrett was confirmed 52-48 on October 26, 2020, the first confirmation opposed by every member of the minority party in modern history.
Key Figures
Donald Trump, Amy Coney Barrett, Mitch McConnell, Merrick Garland, Barack Obama, Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Institutions Involved
Sources
- What Happened With Merrick Garland In 2016 And Why It Matters Now
- Live - Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court Confirmation
- McConnell’s fabricated history to justify a 2020 Supreme Court vote