RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING—Following Sonia Sotomayor’s absence from the Supreme Court to speak at Cornell, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been frantically attempting to push through a new judicial confirmation before the Associate Justice returns on Friday.
“The American people elected this President and this Congress to appoint conservatives to every Supreme Court vacancy, including those caused by a brief trip to New York State’s only land-grant university,” McConnell said while checking the Ithaca weather forecast in the hopes that Sotomayor’s flight would be delayed. “I am confident this seat will be filled before Justice Sotomayor or the Senate Democrats have a chance to return to DC.”
While President Trump has yet to name a nominee, McConnell has been quietly lobbying him to choose a candidate he knows the Senate could quickly confirm, such as a tenured district judge or Harvey Weinstein.
“The Democrats will try to obstruct this clearly legitimate nomination no matter who is selected,” said Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, “but we have both the ability to unilaterally change Senate rules and the lack of Ithaca transportation options on our side.”
When polled, students overwhelmingly said they want Cornell to cancel the event to protect Sotomayor’s seat, or at least provide more tickets to undergraduates.
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