SC confirmations and controversies Flashcards
Why has there been increased controversy over presidential picks since the 1980s?
Due to the polarised nature of modern day politics
How many formal rejections have there been since 1789?
12
What was the most recent formal rejection?
Reagan nominee Robert Bork by 58-42 in 1987. Critics regarded him as being both too conservative and too closely associated with Nixon. He played a key role in the Watergate Scandal, firing the independent prosecutor who was investigating the Watergate cover up on Nixon’s instruction
Why did Harriet Miers, a GWB nominee in 2005, withdraw before her confirmation vote took place?
Because it became clear she would not get enough votes due to opposition from within the R party, who felt that she lacked experience and conservative credentials
Why did Obama fail to replace Antonin Scalia with Merrick Garland in 2016?
Because the senate refused to hear the nomination, arguing that it was too close to the presidential election and that the nomination should be made by the newly elected president
Why were Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings so explosive in 2018?
He was forced to defend himself for accusations of serious sexual assault while at high school. Kavanaugh lambasted democratic senators for using any means necessary to scupper his nomination; arguing that ‘there is a frenzy on the left to come up with something, anything, to block my nomination’
What was the end result of Kavanaugh’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings?
He was approved by 11-10 in the committee and 50-48 in the senate, with voting almost completely following party lines
Why was Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett particularly controversial in late 2020?
Senate Rs were accused of hypocrisy by supporting her nomination just weeks before a presidential election. R Senator Lindsay Graham said in 2016 when justifying the Senate’s refusal to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland ‘If you want to use my words against me, if there’s a R president in 2016, and a vacancy occurs in the last year of his first term, you can say Lindsay Graham said let’s let the next president make the nomination’. All Rs except one voted in favour and all Ds voted against
