Chuck Schumer claims he wasn't opposed to all Bush SCOTUS nominations in 2007
In the growing debate over whether the Senate should vote on President Obama's forthcoming Supreme Court nomination to replace Antonin Scalia, conservatives are hinging on an argument made by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in 2007, when the tables were turned.
"We should not confirm any [George W.] Bush nominee to the Supreme Court, except in extraordinary circumstances," Schumer said at the time.
Now Schumer, who supports a swift appointment for Obama's Supreme Court pick, is clarifying his previous stance in an attempt to ward off the hypocrisy accusations being leveled against him. The senator wrote Tuesday:
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For what it's worth, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also holds a slightly different view on nominations than he used to, as CBS News notes.
"It is time to move away from advise and obstruct and get back to advise and consent," the then-whip said in 2005, as Democrats tried to block a Bush appointment to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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