U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Friday that the Senate should hold hearings on any Supreme Court nomination President Donald Trump might make this year, even if he loses November's election.
“(If) it is a lame-duck session, I would support going ahead with any hearings that we might have,” Ernst, a Republican, said during a taping of the Iowa Press show on Iowa PBS. “And if it comes to an appointment prior to the end of the year, I would be supportive of that.”
The comments came after Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg disclosed that she is once again battling cancer, and she was hospitalized this week with a possible infection.
“I wish nothing but the best of health for Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” Ernst said. “I think we all do. And I’ll be praying for her.”
Which is a very different from her position four years ago:
In March 2016, after Justice Antonin Scalia died, Ernst supported the Senate Republican majority's successful effort to block President Barack Obama from filling the open seat on the court.
“In the midst of a critical election, the American people deserve to have a say in this important decision that will impact the course of our country for years to come,” Ernst argued. “This is not about any particular nominee; rather this is about giving the American people a voice. Folks are frustrated with Washington, and are fed up with President Obama's failed policies and endless power grabs.”
Instead, Ernst said, the Senate should “wait to see what the people say this November” so the “next president will put forward a nominee.”
Republicans claimed they were following the “Biden Rule” when it came to confirming Supreme Court nominees during election year, which is just plain bull shit. But at least one of Iowa’s Republican Senators is consistent:
Sen. Chuck Grassley, then the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, incurred the wrath of liberals in 2016 when he put President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland on hold until after the presidential election.“If I were chairman of the committee and this vacancy occurred, I would not have a hearing on it because that’s what I promised the people in 2016,” Grassley told reporters Friday morning.After Trump became president, the GOP-controlled Senate confirmed Justices Neil Gorsuch and later Brett Kavanaugh.Grassley gave a similar answer earlier this month when asked about rumors Justice Samuel Alito would retire at the end of the court’s term.
Ernst idiotically made her race now all about the Supreme Court which only gives Theresa Greenfield (D. IA) more ammunition. Especially since Ernst and Grennfield are in a very competitive race:
Iowa’s U.S. Senate race between Ernst and Greenfield is expected to be competitive and contentious. The race is drawing national attention because its outcome figures to play a critical role in determining which political party emerges from the November 3 election with a Senate majority.Political forecasters predict a close race. Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report rate the race as leaning in Ernst’s favor, while Inside Elections, Politico and the Niskanen Center all see the race as a toss-up.The most recent public polling on the race, in early June from Selzer & Company with the Des Moines Register, and Public Policy Polling, showed a close race with Greenfield in a slight lead within the polls’ margins for error.
Let’s kick this hypocrite out of the Senate and Flip Iowa Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Greenfield, Biden and their fellow Iowa Democrats campaigns:
Iowa:
