GOP Ready for Nomination Fight

For anyone who still holds out hope that some sort of post-partisan spirit of cooperation will eventually make its way to Capitol Hill, the impending Supreme Court nomination fight should quickly shatter it. No matter whom President Obama selects to succeed Justice David Souter on the high court, Senate Republicans are more than likely to put up a fierce fight. During his time in the Senate the president was viewed as nothing more than an obstructionist by Senate Republicans who aren’t likely to forget his opposition to former President Bush’s judicial picks.As senator, Obama opposed both of Bush’s high court picks—John Roberts and Samuel Alito. And, despite criticizing the tactic beforehand, Obama backed an attempt to filibuster Alito in 2006. Since his election, Senate Republicans have put the president on notice that they have no intention of rolling over when it comes to judicial nominees. In early March, Republicans sent a letter to the president urging “consultation” on nominees, and threatening filibuster if they didn’t get it. This past February, former Solicitor General Ken Starr warned that the president would face an unpleasant fight when it came to Supreme Court nominees, highlighting Obama’s distinction as the only president to support the filibuster of a high court nominee while serving in the Senate.  While there’s little to suggest President Obama will make a potentially divisive court selection, it likely won’t take much to set Senate Republicans off. Shortly after Election Day last year, Arizona Republican John Kyl indicated he would be inclined to filibuster nominees in the mold of Justices Souter, Ginsberg and Breyer. All three were met with easy confirmation to the high court.  Shane D’Aprile is senior editor at Politics magazine. sdaprile@politicsmagazine.com