RE: https://zirk.us/@CindyWeinstein/116874944828109750
Considering what #MitchMcConnell did to prevent #BarackObama from putting #MerrickGarland on the #SCOTUS after Antonio Scalia died, it wouldn’t surprise me if the cretin from #Kentucky told his staff to keep his death secret until the #midterms decided his Senate replacement!
Governor #AndyBeshear should name his replacement effective immediately, unless McConnell proves that he is alive.
You're giving the guy too much credit.
McConnell didn't do much to prevent Obama from putting Garland on the SCOTUS. He didn't have that authority, and more importantly, he wasn't that influential.
If Senators wanted to move forward with Obama's nominee they would have regardless of whether McConnell wanted to or not. We shouldn't let them deflect accountability by pointing at majority leaders.
@volkris For instance, if a Republican Senator wanted to vote to confirm #MerrickGarland he or she could count on being removed from any #Senate Committee whose purview included #USpol matters that could be very important to their constituents. 🤷🏻♂️
He could only be removed if the Senate at large would condone the removal.
That's exactly my point: the majority and minority leaders don't actually have that much power. They're largely figureheads as other senators point fingers to duck blame for what they themselves hold the power to fix.
For instance, if McConnell wanted to punish a Republican Senator who wanted to vote to confirm Garland, and he was one of 51 senators who wanted to have that vote, then the 51 could override any attempt by McConnell to exact such a punishment.
But in reality, there wasn't such support for a vote among the senators, and they'd rather score political points grousing about McConnell than owning that they simply didn't find the nominee compelling.
@volkris Considering that political parties are never mentioned in the #Constitution , I would say that Majority leaders in #Congress have *given themselves* too much power.