“[The President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint…Judges of the Supreme Court.” These are words straight from the Constitution of the United States, words written by our founding fathers.
They spell out the imbalance on power between the President and Congress when it comes to the nominations of the Supreme Court. The president holds more. Congress has the right to advise and to reject candidates, but it is the president who nominates and appoints judges to the Supreme Court.
It is for that reason that Congress should proceed with nomination hearings for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh. It is for that same reason that the refusal of the Senate to hear the nomination of Merrick Garland is not justification for doing the same with Kavanaugh.
At first glance, the comparison seems logical, both nominations occured in an election year, Garland’s in 2016 and now Kavanaugh’s in 2018. However, the difference in election year when regarding power to the supreme court is massive.
During the presidential election, the power of who would nominate and appoint the next judge was in contention between the candidates. Citizens were able to have an almost direct say in what type of judge would be nominated for the Supreme court. That is why Republicans, lead by Senator Mitch McConnell, boycotted hearing Garland’s nomination. They believed that the American people had a right to voice their opinions about who would be nominated by voting in the presidential election.
Now oppositionists to Kavanaugh’s nomination will argue that the two situations are the same, and that Congress and the president have equal power and there the elections should be treated with equal relevance. That is not the case though. When it comes to the Supreme Court judge nominations, the president has more power than Congress.
Calling the Republicans hypocrites and attempting to delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote until after the election is nothing more than an attempt by some members of Congress to dismiss Kavanaugh’s nomination. In reality, the Senate should be doing nothing more than advising the President, and then confirming his nomination unless serious problems emerge through the confirmation hearings. That is the role spelled out to them by the founding fathers in the constitution.
The key thing to remember is that it does not matter whether you agree with Kavanaugh’s political beliefs, or even if you think he should be approved or not, it’s that Kavanaugh should be given a fair confirmation hearing without delay, as if it were any other time of the year, and as if he were any other judge. That’s what is fair; that’s what is just; that’s what is American.