COMMITTEE AND YAMICHE ALCINDOR AND ASTEAD HERNAN.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. LET ME ASK YOU THIS.
THIS IS -- THIS IS THE FIRST-EVER PARTISAN FILIBUSTER
OF A SUPREME COURT NOMINEE. DO DEMOCRATS REALLYY WANT THAT
DISTINCTION? >> WE WANT A SUPREME COURT
NOMINEE WHO WILL ACTUALLY GET MORE THAN THE BARE MINIMUM OF
SENATE VOTES. NOBODY IS FORCING MITCH
McCONNELL TO TAKE HIS CAUCUS DOWN THIS PATH.
SO, FOR HIM TO START BLAMING THE DEMOCRATS I THINK IS REALLY
UNCALLED FOR, ESPECIALLY AS HE UNILATERALLY ANNOUNCED THAT HE
WOULD NOT PROCEED AT ALL WITH JUDGE GARLAND'S NOMINATION.
>> BUT AT THIS POINT, SENATOR, THIS IS NOT SURPRISING, FROM
MITCH McCONNELL. THIS IS KIND OF THE ROAD THAT
FOLKS EXPECTED HIM TO GO DOWN ONCE DEMOCRATS MADE IT CLEAR
LIKE YOUR COLLEAGUES ON THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, THAT
THEY WOULD TRY TO FILIBUSTER. >> THERE ARE BATTLES WORTH
FIGHTING, AND THIS IS ONE. JUDGE GORSUCH WILL NOT BE A
JUSTICE FOR ALL OF THE PEOPLE. THOSE OF US WHO SAT THROUGH FOUR
DAYS OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARINGS, I CERTAINLY CAME TO
THE CONCLUSION THAT HE WOULD JUST CONTINUE THE TREND OF THE
ROBERTS COURT TO MOVE TOWARD CONTINUING TO SUPPORT
CORRESPONDENT INTERESTS OVER INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS.
AND THERE ARE SO MANY DECISIONS LIKE THIS, 5-4 DECISIONS.
IN FACT, TODAY IS EQUAL PAY DAY. IT'S TAKEN WOMEN THIS LONG TO
MAKE THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT IT TAKES A MAN TO MAKE AT
THE END OF THE YEAR. ONE OF THE 5-4 DECISIONS THAT
I'M SURE JUDGE GORSUCH WOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE RIGHT OF
LIMITING LILY LEDBETTER, THE CASE THAT SURPRISED ALL OF THE
COURT WATCHERS, IN WHICH THEY REALLY CONSTRAINED A WOMAN'S
ABILITY TO GET HER DAY IN COURT FOR DISCRIMINATORY PAY.
THAT'S WHY EVERY MEMBER OF THE SUPREME COURT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
AND WHY THE MOST CONSERVATIVE PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY,
ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE -- WELL, YOU KNOW WHICH
ORGANIZATIONS, ARE SUPPORTING JUDGE GORSUCH.
TO THE TUNE OF SPENDING OVER $10 MILLION ON HIS BEHALF.
>> I THINK AT THIS POINT IT IS VERY CLEAR, RIGHT -- I KNOW THAT
SOME INCLUDING SENATOR SCHUMER, FOR EXAMPLE, SAID, HEY, IF YOU
CAN'T GET THE VOTES, CHANGE THE NOMINEE.
>> YES. >> THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
THIS IS THE ROAD WE ARE HEADED DOWN, SENATOR.
DOES THIS MEAN THE END OF THE LEGISLATIVE FILIBUSTER AS WELL?
THAT COULD IMPACT POLICY ACROSS THE BOARD FOR DECADES TO COME.
>> I DOUBT VERY MUCH THAT WILL GET RID OF THE 60 VOTE
REQUIREMENT TO MOVE LEGISLATION. >> HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE?
>> THAT WOULD MAKE US A U.S. HOUSE.
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, THAT'S TOTAL MAJORITY RULE THERE.
I THINK THAT MOST SENATORS DO CARE ABOUT THE INSTITUTION AND
THE PROCESS WHEREBY WE COME TO SOME KIND OF AN AGREEMENT OR
CONSENSUS ON LEGISLATION. I DON'T THINK THERE IS, AS MY
FRIEND SHELDON WHITEHOUSE SIDE THIS MORNING, I DON'T THINK
THERE IS AN APPETITE TO MOVE DOWN THAT ROAD FOR LEGISLATION.
>> I FLASH BACK TO FIVE, TEN YEARS AGO.
I DON'T KNOW THAT PEOPLE WOULD HAVE SAID THERE WOULD BE A
NUCLEAR OPTION ON A SUPREME COURT PICK EITHER.
I JUST WONDER, DO YOU WORRY THAT WE'RE STARTING A SLIPPERY SLOPE
HERE? >> I THINK THAT THE INABILITY TO
COME TO SOME KIND OF A CONSENSUS, YEAH, A LARGE PART OF
IT IS DUE TO, IN MY VIEW, THE LEADERSHIP.
HERE IS MITCH McCONNELL, WHO ANNOUNCED AFTER PRESIDENT OBAMA
GOT ELECTED THAT HIS GOAL IN LIFE WAS TO MAKE SURE THAT
PRESIDENT OBAMA DID NOT GET REELECTED AND THAT HE WOULD
STYMIE HIS EFFORTS AT EVERY TURN.
IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS THAT LED US TO CHANGE THE RULES TO ALLOW
FOR AN UP OR DOWN VOTE ON THE PRESIDENT'S NOMINEES, BECAUSE
HUNDREDS OF JUDICIAL NOMINEES AS WELL AS APPOINTMENTS WERE BEING
HELD UP BY THE REPUBLICANS. THEY FILIBUSTERED OVER 500
TIMES. SO WE ARE WHERE WE ARE.
I AM HOPEFUL THAT, AS WE GO FORWARD, THAT THERE WILL NOT BE
A NUCLEAR OPTION ON LEGISLATION. AS I SAID, NOBODY IS FORCING
MITCH McCONNELL TO GO DOWN THIS PATH.
IF HE REALLY CARED ABOUT A SUPREME COURT, LIFETIME
APPOINTMENT, MAKING DECISIONS THAT IMPACT OUR LIVES FOR
DECADES, THAT THAT PERSON, ALL THOSE NOMINEES, SHOULD GET AT
LEAST 60 VOTES TO GO FORWARD. I DON'T THINK THAT'S BEING
UNREASONABLE. >> DO YOU THINK YOU CAN FLIP
THAT ARGUMENT IF YOU'RE, FOR EXAMPLE, MITCH McCONNELL AND
SAY, HEY, DEMOCRATS ARE THE ONES WHO COULD NOT FILIBUSTER, RIGHT,
AND SORT OF MAKE THE OPPOSITE ARGUMENT FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE.
>> WELL, THAT'S WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE.
BUT IN MY VIEW, A JUSTICE NOMINEE WHO IS SUPPORTED BY THE
MOST RIGHT-WING GROUPS WHO HAVE PUT HIM ON THEIR LIST AND, IN
FACT, ONE OF THE REASONS THAT THIS WHOLE NOMINATION, I THINK,
IS BEING FAST-TRACKED, FASTER THAN ANY OTHER SUPREME COURT
NOMINEE, WITH NOT GIVING PEOPLE IN AMERICA A CHANCE TO REALLY
WEIGH IN, IS BECAUSE THERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT CASE HAVING TO DO
WITH SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE THAT THESE CONSERVATIVE
GROUPS WOULD WANT JUDGE GORSUCH'S VOTE ON.
AND SO WE'RE GOING TO DO EVERYTEVERYTHING WE CAN TO FIGHE
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