Atlanta, Ga. — With a new vacancy on the United States Supreme Court, Republicans in the U.S. Senate, including Senator David Perdue (R-Ga.), face a daunting challenge: stay true to their word or succumb to political pressure from Sen. Mitch McConnell and President Trump, and show zero integrity in their own stated principles.
So far, Senator Perdue is hiding and silent on the matter.
In 2016, Sen. Perdue was one of the most ardent opponents of confirming a new Supreme Court justice.
Let’s be crystal clear: Senator Perdue was *adamant* that no Supreme Court confirmation should proceed in a presidential Election Year as a matter of principle.
From the beginning, Perdue refused to even consider President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland, which was made 237 days before the Presidential Election.
Now, fewer than 50 days away from the 2020 Presidential Election, and with both McConnell and Trump promising to confirm a new justice, Perdue has been silent.
Will Perdue keep his word to Georgians that “it is critical that the American people have a say in selecting a new Supreme Court Justice in November,” and that the only “responsible course of action” is to “refrain from initiating the nominations process in the midst of an election-year political fight,” or will he bend to the political pressure and fall back on his word, demonstrating zero independence or integrity?
See 10 times Senator David Perdue opposed a Supreme Court nomination in 2016:
1. 2/18/16: 264 days before the Election: “I will do everything in my power to encourage the President and Senate leadership not to start this process until we hear from the American people.”
2. 2/22/16: 260 days before the Election: Perdue said confirming a justice should wait until after the November election of a president and one-third of the Senate. “We really need to let this be a referendum,” he said. “The people of the country need to speak.”
3. 2/23/16: Perdue Joined Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans In Pledging, “this Committee will not hold hearings on any Supreme Court nominee until after our next President is sworn in on January 20, 2017.” 259 days before Election Day: “As we write, we are in the midst of a great national debate over the course our country will take in the coming years. The Presidential election is well underway. Americans have already begun to cast their votes. As we mourn the tragic loss of Justice Antonin Scalia, and celebrate his life’s work, the American people are presented with an exceedingly rare opportunity to decide, in a very real and concrete way, the direction the Court will take over the next generation. We believe The People should have this opportunity.”
4. 2/29/16: Perdue: “We will not start the nomination process until we have a new President of the United States” and “it is critical that the American people have a say in selecting a new Supreme Court justice in November.”
5. 3/2/16: Perdue: “At a time when the stakes are so high, the American people deserve the opportunity to engage in a full and robust debate over the type of jurist they wish to decide some of the most critical issues of our time for the next generation.”
6. 3/4/16: 249 days before the election: “We think that we ought to have the people have a say in this, not only in the White House, but in Congress, but also now in the third branch of government, the Supreme Court.”
7. 3/17/16: On video 236 days before the election: “The responsible course of action here – a course of action endorsed by both Democrats and Republicans for decades – is to refrain from initiating the nominations process in the midst of an election-year political fight. The responsible course of action is to avoid the political theatre that this nomination would become.”
8. 4/4/16: Perdue: “As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I believe we must allow the American people to have a voice in this process. The upcoming presidential election will not only determine the direction of our country, but also serve as a referendum on the presidency, Congress, and now the Supreme Court.”
9. 9/7/16: Perdue: Not holding hearings on a nominee was “a wise course of action in the midst of a Presidential Election.”
10. 11/7/16: One day before the election, Perdue said it would be “improper” to confirm a nominee in the lame-duck session.
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