Area Senator Now Poster Boy for GOP Obstructionism on SCOTUS Vacancy
Johnson’s admission that he would consider a Republican president’s nominee is making national headlines as a case study in GOP obstructionism.
MADISON – This week Sen. Ron Johnson became the poster boy for GOP obstructionism on the Supreme Court vacancy. During a radio interview yesterday, Sen. Johnson admitted what everyone already knew: that his refusal to fill the high court’s vacancy has nothing to do with principle and everything to do with partisan politics.
Johnson’s admission that he would consider a Republican president’s nominee is making national headlines as a case study in GOP obstructionism. But Wisconsinites are all too familiar with Johnson falling in line behind Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump instead of listening to the people of this state.
Johnson finally served up a dose of honesty to the people of Wisconsin. His priority is not to “let the American people decide” the direction of the court but to kowtow to the demands of Mitch McConnell, the Koch brothers, and the billionaires backing his two super PACs.
Check out the coverage:
NYT: Senate Republicans Stand by Refusal to Consider Any Supreme Court Nominee
“But even as Mr. Grassley defended the Republicans’ stance, his argument was undercut by the unexpected remarks of a colleague, Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, who is not a member of the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Johnson, speaking on a local radio show, said that Republicans would have taken a different approach to an election-year nominee if it were made by a Republican president.”
MSNBC: Senate Republicans debunk their own Supreme Court talking points
“Senate Republicans have had about a month to come up with a coherent rationale for imposing a blockade on any Supreme Court nominee from President Obama. The fact that they’ve failed so spectacularly to think of anything sound is probably a bad sign.”
Cap Times: Ron Johnson: ‘More accommodation’ for a conservative president to replace a conservative Supreme Court justice
“Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson suggested on Thursday that he might feel differently about filling Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia‘s seat if a conservative president were in office.”
Daily Kos: Sen. Ron Johnson, genius, admits there wouldn’t be a SCOTUS blockade for a Republican president
“Count on Sen. Ron Johnson, (R-WI) to be the guy who says out loud exactly what his leadership is trying to keep quiet: they wouldn’t have any problem approving a Republican president’s nominee to the Supreme Court.”
TPM: GOP Senator: Of Course We’d Consider SCOTUS Nom If Obama Were Republican!
“During a Thursday morning radio interview, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) candidly explained that Senate Republicans would take a different approach to a Supreme Court nominee if a Republican president were in office and replacing a conservative justice.”
WKOW: Senator Johnson implies he would OK a Supreme Court justice nominated by Mitt Romney
“Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) told a local radio talk show Thursday morning he would feel differently about appointing a new U.S. Supreme Court justice if Mitt Romney had defeated Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election.”
AP: Republicans dig in on blocking Obama’s court nominee
“If a conservative president’s replacing a conservative justice, there’s a little more accommodation to it,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said in a radio interview on WEKZ radio in Monroe, Wisconsin. Johnson has stood with other Senate Republicans in opposition to moving forward with any Obama nominee to replace Scalia, who died last month.”
AP: Johnson spokesman downplays senator’s comments on nominee
“Johnson’s campaign spokesman Brian Reisinger noted in a follow up email that the senator “did not say what the Senate would or would not do under a hypothetical situation.”
AP: Senator: Nominee Vote Possible If President Were Republican
“A Republican senator suggested on Thursday that the Senate might consider filling the current vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court if President Barack Obama were a conservative.”
HuffPo: Republican Admits Supreme Court Blockade Is Unprecedented
“At the same time Graham was talking about his party setting a new precedent, his colleague, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), was admitting that there was no guiding principle at all. Johnson said on a Wisconsin radio station Thursday morning that if a Republican were president, he would be more accommodating.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
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