Dems in Senate passed a resolution in1960 against election year Supreme Court appointments
By Thomas Lifson
Read it and weep, Democrats. The shoe is on the other foot. David Bernstein at the Washington Post’s Volokh Conspiracy blog:
Thanks to a VC commenter, I discovered that in August 1960, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a resolution, S.RES. 334, “Expressing the sense of the Senate that the president should not make recess appointments to the Supreme Court, except to prevent or end a breakdown in the administration of the Court’s business.†Each of President Eisenhower’s SCOTUS appointments had initially been a recess appointment who was later confirmed by the Senate, and the Democrats were apparently concerned that Ike would try to fill any last-minute vacancy that might arise with a recess appointment.
The GOP opposed this, of course. Hypocrisy goes two ways. But the majority won.
As it should this time.
SHALL appoint in the Constitution trumps any and all Senate “Resolutions”. Which ain’t really worth the paper they are printed on.
The Senate can and sometimes (very rarely) reject a nominee. I am sure back in the distant past a Republican Senate rejected a Democrat president’s Supreme Court nominee, but for the life of me, I cannot remember even one.
However I do agree with the article, the late Justice Scalia would want ALL of them, the Court, President and Senate to follow the Constitution. TO THE LETTER.
We may not like it, but it is there. As the writer says, we should follow the what the Constitution says, not what we want it to say.
How much weight should we give to a 55-year old “sense of the Senate” resolution?