Sorry but I suspect it is perfectly legal for 14 members of the Senate to band together and decide to vote a certain way. That is what this is about.
Yes, most certainly they can do that BUT, what they have done is UNconstitutional. Period.
An agreement between 14 senators is NOT binding on the President. You can not amend the constitution this way.
But the democrats will act AS IF this is now what "advise and consent" means. Do you really think that the democrats won't do this? When has it ever meant that the President MUST talk and get their approval first for his nominees?
Yep. It's similar to an alliance in "Survivor". :-)
The action these fourteen Senators did was much more than vote in a block. They actually wrote a compromise that will effect future and immediate appointments and nomination procedures for a long time. Their actions , in the name of even handedness and expediency , have in reality tilted the hand of the majority party to that of a lesser one, in turn taking away the power of the president in office to make appointments that will tend to balance the views of judges in office that have been placed by previous presidents. Since these things seem to be cyclical , they have in effect flattened the tire.Some Senators truly do reflect their constituents opinions in that they are short sighted and do not have the good of the whole in mind.