, Columnist
Democrats Are Trapped on Gorsuch and the Filibuster
When Merrick Garland was the court nominee, they waved the Constitution. Now what?
The nominee, right, on his rounds.
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What Republicans did when President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court has added to the resolve of many Democrats to fight President Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch. But what Democrats said back then stands in the way of their effort to fight him.
Senate Republicans refused to take up the Garland nomination. Democrats said that the Republicans were taking partisan obstruction to a dangerous new level. It was a reasonable if not entirely convincing argument. But Democrats could not resist going further. In their outrage, they said that the Republicans’ treatment of Garland violated the Constitution.