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Unless and until this cloud over President Trump disappears, the Senate shouldn't move forward with anyone he picks for the Supreme Court. (Image: Screenshot/Youtube/Inequality Media)
Gorsuch Shouldn't Be Confirmed Until We Know the Person Who Picked Him Is Cleared of Wrongdoing
Neil Gorsuch shouldn't be confirmed until Trump comes clean.
Nominating a new justice of the Supreme Court is one of the most important responsibilities of a president. But until we know Trump is a legitimate president, he can't be presumed to have the authority to make such a pick.
First, we need to be sure Trump didn't collaborate with Russia to rig the election. The FBI says it has enough "credible evidence" that Trump aides colluded with Russian operatives to affect the outcome of the election, to move forward with a full-scale investigation.
Mar 24, 2017
Neil Gorsuch shouldn't be confirmed until Trump comes clean.
Nominating a new justice of the Supreme Court is one of the most important responsibilities of a president. But until we know Trump is a legitimate president, he can't be presumed to have the authority to make such a pick.
First, we need to be sure Trump didn't collaborate with Russia to rig the election. The FBI says it has enough "credible evidence" that Trump aides colluded with Russian operatives to affect the outcome of the election, to move forward with a full-scale investigation.
At the least, Gorsuch shouldn't be considered until that investigation is concluded.
We also need to be sure Trump isn't motivated by financial conflicts of interest around the world. We need to see his tax records to know he doesn't owe a bundle to Russian oligarchs or big global banks that would affect his judgement.
And we need to know he's not violating the Constitution by raking in money from foreign governments. For example, Trump still owns a 77 stake of his luxury hotel in Washington and his children are splitting the rest, even as foreign governments assign their dignitaries rooms at the hotel.
China just granted Trump trademark rights to the Trump brand, potentially worth billions of dollars to Trump and his family. Although it's normally difficult to obtain brand-name rights in China so quickly, the Chinese authorities apparently saw this as a payback in return for Trump's backing away from recognizing Taiwan.
Last year Senate Republicans wouldn't move forward with Obama's pick of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court on the bizarre theory that a president in his last year of office has no legitimacy nominating a Supreme Court justice.
But a true cloud of illegitimacy now hangs over the presidency of Donald Trump. Unless and until that cloud disappears, the Senate shouldn't move forward with anyone Trump picks for the Supreme Court.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
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Robert Reich
Robert Reich, is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.
Neil Gorsuch shouldn't be confirmed until Trump comes clean.
Nominating a new justice of the Supreme Court is one of the most important responsibilities of a president. But until we know Trump is a legitimate president, he can't be presumed to have the authority to make such a pick.
First, we need to be sure Trump didn't collaborate with Russia to rig the election. The FBI says it has enough "credible evidence" that Trump aides colluded with Russian operatives to affect the outcome of the election, to move forward with a full-scale investigation.
At the least, Gorsuch shouldn't be considered until that investigation is concluded.
We also need to be sure Trump isn't motivated by financial conflicts of interest around the world. We need to see his tax records to know he doesn't owe a bundle to Russian oligarchs or big global banks that would affect his judgement.
And we need to know he's not violating the Constitution by raking in money from foreign governments. For example, Trump still owns a 77 stake of his luxury hotel in Washington and his children are splitting the rest, even as foreign governments assign their dignitaries rooms at the hotel.
China just granted Trump trademark rights to the Trump brand, potentially worth billions of dollars to Trump and his family. Although it's normally difficult to obtain brand-name rights in China so quickly, the Chinese authorities apparently saw this as a payback in return for Trump's backing away from recognizing Taiwan.
Last year Senate Republicans wouldn't move forward with Obama's pick of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court on the bizarre theory that a president in his last year of office has no legitimacy nominating a Supreme Court justice.
But a true cloud of illegitimacy now hangs over the presidency of Donald Trump. Unless and until that cloud disappears, the Senate shouldn't move forward with anyone Trump picks for the Supreme Court.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich, is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.
Neil Gorsuch shouldn't be confirmed until Trump comes clean.
Nominating a new justice of the Supreme Court is one of the most important responsibilities of a president. But until we know Trump is a legitimate president, he can't be presumed to have the authority to make such a pick.
First, we need to be sure Trump didn't collaborate with Russia to rig the election. The FBI says it has enough "credible evidence" that Trump aides colluded with Russian operatives to affect the outcome of the election, to move forward with a full-scale investigation.
At the least, Gorsuch shouldn't be considered until that investigation is concluded.
We also need to be sure Trump isn't motivated by financial conflicts of interest around the world. We need to see his tax records to know he doesn't owe a bundle to Russian oligarchs or big global banks that would affect his judgement.
And we need to know he's not violating the Constitution by raking in money from foreign governments. For example, Trump still owns a 77 stake of his luxury hotel in Washington and his children are splitting the rest, even as foreign governments assign their dignitaries rooms at the hotel.
China just granted Trump trademark rights to the Trump brand, potentially worth billions of dollars to Trump and his family. Although it's normally difficult to obtain brand-name rights in China so quickly, the Chinese authorities apparently saw this as a payback in return for Trump's backing away from recognizing Taiwan.
Last year Senate Republicans wouldn't move forward with Obama's pick of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court on the bizarre theory that a president in his last year of office has no legitimacy nominating a Supreme Court justice.
But a true cloud of illegitimacy now hangs over the presidency of Donald Trump. Unless and until that cloud disappears, the Senate shouldn't move forward with anyone Trump picks for the Supreme Court.
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