WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is vowing that Democrats will not allow President Donald Trump to put “a right-winger” on the Supreme Court once they take power, raising the possibility that his party could block a presidential nominee if there is a vacancy in the next two years.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Schumer would not say if he would hold a Supreme Court vacancy open until after the next presidential election, as former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell did in 2016. But he said that Democrats are “not going to allow any crappy nominees” to be confirmed to the Supreme Court — or to the lower courts or Trump’s Cabinet, either.

“The bottom line is we’re not going to allow a right-winger on the court,” Schumer said.

Schumer’s pledge came two days after Democrats won a decisive Senate majority in the midterm elections — a feat few predicted a year ago, when Schumer was facing intense criticism from progressives within his party and Senate Republicans were betting that a favorable map and backing from Trump would help them keep power.

While there is still frustration with Schumer in some corners of the party, the New Yorker is expected to easily be reelected as leader by his caucus after leading them to wins in Republican-leaning states across the country. Democrats could have as many as 56 seats in the Senate if they win Mississippi and Alaska, which still have not been called — “a durable majority,” Schumer predicts, that has been 20 years in the making as he has been directly or indirectly in charge of his party’s Senate campaign operation.

  • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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    9 hours ago

    While there is still frustration with Schumer in some corners of the party, the New Yorker is expected to easily be reelected as leader by his caucus

    No, he has to go, NOW. The MAGA comedy act of Schmuck & Jeffries, has been onstage long enough. They allowed the rise and re-rise of MAGA, and they’ve done nothing to deserve a THIRD chance to fuck it up. If they blow it again, nothing less than a full blown Civil War will save us.

    They don’t deserve ANY credit for this win at all. This was all the voters. If anything, Schmuck could have gotten even more Senate seats, if wasn’t an idiot. He could have had Angi Nixon’s seat in Florida, but he wouldn’t give any money to a Progressive.

    Call and write your Senators and Reps, and tell them that we want NEW leadership that understands the mission. These two corrupt humps have their own agendas.

    • Taldan@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      If Schumer and Jeffries end up leading the senate and house, 2028 will look a lot like 2024

      The centrist, do-nothing Democrats cannot be allowed to lead the party again. We did that in 2020. It was a disaster

      Mamdani is showing us a microcosm of what the country could look like under progressive leadership