The Left Is Proposing A Last-Minute Plan To Hijack The Senate And Confirm Obama's SCOTUS Nominee

If you're a liberal still struggling to process and accept the election results, it's not over yet!

Some progressives are now circulating a shocking last-minute plan that could allow Democrats to hijack control of the U.S. Senate and confirm Obama's failed Supreme Court nominee to the bench before Trump takes office.

The idea was first presented by Daily Kos radio host David Waldman and has since gained traction on other left-wing sites. Waldman was also a big advocate for using the controversial Senate reconciliation procedure to pass ObamaCare.

Senate Republicans announced that they would not consider any nomination to fill the vacant seat until after the presidential election in order to give the American people a chance to decide. Donald Trump won.

But, according to this plan, Democrats will have a chance to ignore Trump and the Republicans and vote in Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court just days before Trump's inauguration. Or, as they put it, “to reclaim the Supreme Court nomination Republicans think they stole from us.” (Yes, there are plenty of legal issues here, which will be discussed below.)

The idea, according to Crooks and Liars, goes something like this:

On January 3, 2017, Democrats will hold the majority in the Senate for a few minutes, until the newly-elected Senators are sworn in. Biden could convene the Senate in those few minutes and call for a vote. The majority could then suspend the rules and vote in Merrick Garland.

Translation: for a few brief minutes on January 3, 2017, Democrats could theoretically control the Senate. How? One third of U.S. Senate seats were up for re-election this year. Those terms expire at noon on January 3 and the new incoming class will be sworn in minutes later. During that gap, the Senate will only have 67 sitting members - and a majority of those 67 members will happen to be Democrats.

According to the plan, Vice President Joe Biden, who presides over the Senate, would have to call the chamber to order and recognize the Democrats as the majority. Democrats could then renominate Merrick Garland and quickly approve him to the Supreme Court. Republicans wouldn't have enough votes to stop it:

The key here is that VP Biden would have to be willing to convene the Senate and recognize Senator Dick Durbin instead of Mitch McConnell. Durbin moves to re-nominate Garland, and Senate Democrats then vote to confirm him. They will have a quorum for those few minutes.

That's the plan, at least. There's a ton of debate as to whether such a move would be legal, both by the Senate rules and by the Constitution. Even if it does pass legal muster, no Democratic officials have shown any interest in such a radical step.

It's one thing for Senate Republicans to use their constitutional power as the majority party to deny Obama his Supreme Court nominee. It's quite another for Senate Democrats to hijack control of the Senate by completely disenfranchising one third of its elected members over a scheduling loophole.

That hasn't stopped progressives from hoping.

Conservatives have pointed out the numerous legal flaws, including the fact that the Constitution states that new terms begin at noon - right when the old terms expire.

The Senate's rules also state that the “presentation of credentials” of new senators always takes precedence over other business. That would include a Supreme Court nomination.

Not to mention how furious Donald Trump and the Republicans would be if this subversive scheme was carried on what is otherwise supposed to be a happy and optimistic congressional inauguration day in Washington.

Republicans utilized their constitutional power as the majority party to refuse to confirm Merrick Garland, instead waiting until after the election. For conservatives, there was too much to lose. It was a gamble; if Clinton had won and Democrats had taken the Senate, her nominee could have been far more liberal and Republicans would have had no input.

But voters sent Trump into office and Republicans held onto the Senate. The gamble paid off. As Obama told us all once before, “elections have consequences.”