Dont know if a nominee was flat out ignored due to last year of sitting Presidents tenure either tho..
Nope.....Reagan appointment was made during his last year
MYTH: Refusing To Hold Hearings For President's Supreme Court Nominee Is Not Unusual
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY): SCOTUS Vacancy "Should Not Be Filled Until We Have A New President." CBS News reported on February 13 that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed his intention to prevent the confirmation of any nominee before a new president takes office in 2017:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, believes the U.S. Senate should wait 11 months for the next president to be sworn in before confirming a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
"The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice," the conservative leader said in a statement following the news of Scalia's death. "Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president." [CBS News,
2/13/16]
Senate Republican Leadership Has Expressed Its Intention Not To Hold Hearings For Any Nominee.Politico reported on February 23, "Senate Republicans will deny hearings to a Supreme Court nominee from President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he's not inclined to even meet with whomever the president picks for the job." [
Politico,
2/23/16]
Initial Reporting On Republican Obstructionism Downplayed Unprecedented Nature Or Ignored It Outright. Initial reporting the week following Scalia's death failed to emphasize the lack of precedent for the GOP leadership's claims and strategy surrounding the vacancy. For example, one February 16
New York Times article noted that the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress were merely "portraying" the GOP's actions as unprecedented, even though the historical record shows that charges of Republicans' unprecedented obstructionism are based in fact.
The Times also presented Democrats and Republicans as equally blameworthy for judicial nominee obstruction, suggesting that Obama was somehow contributing to the battle. Right-wing outlets like
The Washington Times misrepresented the nature of McConnell's threats -- suggesting he simply refused to confirm, not that he refused to even hold hearings -- to falsely argue, "Republicans have the Constitution, history, pragmatism and democracy on their side. Obama and the Democrats have only chutzpah." [
Media Matters,
2/18/16;
Media Matters,
2/16/16]
FACT: Historically, The Senate Has At Least Considered Presidential Nominees, Even In An Election Year
The Senate Has Considered Every Nominee Since 1875. Explaining modern precedents surrounding Supreme Court nomination and confirmation norms, the White House noted on its website that "since 1875, every nominee has received a hearing or a vote":
Every nominee has received a vote within 125 days of nomination.
Since 1975, the average time from nomination to confirmation is 67 days. In fact, since 1875, every nominee has received a hearing or a vote. The longest time before confirmation in the past three decades was 99 days, for Justice Thomas, and the last four Justices, spanning two Administrations, were confirmed in an average of 75 days.
The Senate has almost a full year -- more than 300 days -- to consider and confirm a nominee. [WhiteHouse.gov, accessed
2/29/16]
The Modern Confirmation Process Undoubtedly Involves Public Hearings And Consideration By The Senate. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), of more than 40 Supreme Court nominations made since the Senate Judiciary Committee began the practice of holding public hearings to question nominees in 1939, every nominee that was not withdrawn by the president received a public hearing or vote by the full Senate. Justices James Byrnes and Harold Burton were confirmed by the Senate without holding public hearings in 1941 and 1945, respectively. No Judiciary Committee action was taken on initial nominations of Justices John Harlan II and John Roberts, but both were re-nominated in short order, given public hearings, and confirmed by the Senate. In 2005, President George W. Bush withdrew his nomination of Harriet Miers before hearings could be held. In every other case, the nominee received one or more public hearings in the Judiciary Committee. [
Supreme Court Nominations, 1789 - 2009: Actions by the Senate, the Judiciary Committee, and the President, Congressional Research Service,
5/13/2009]
Throughout U.S. History, The Full Senate Has Nearly Always Voted On The Nominee. According to a historical survey of the nomination process -- covering both the modern public hearing process and different Senate norms that preceded the modern process -- 149 of 160 nominations to the Supreme Court in U.S. history have been confirmed or rejected after receiving consideration by the full Senate:
Throughout the nation's history, there have been 160 nominations to the Supreme Court. Of these, 123 nominations received Senate confirmation, and 26 nominations were rejected by the Senate. The remaining nominations were either withdrawn by the president or never considered by the Senate. Thus, statistically speaking, presidents are quite successful in obtaining Senate support for their nominees: more than 75% of presidential nominations gained Senate approval. [
Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings and Constitutional Change, Kindle Locations 670-674, 2013]
Since 1900, Six Supreme Court Vacancies Have Been Filled During Election Years. According to SCOTUSblog, "The historical record does not reveal any instances since at least 1900 of the president failing to nominate and/or the Senate failing to confirm a nominee in a presidential election year because of the impending election." SCOTUSblog listed six instances where vacancies were filled during election years, and also explained two cases since 1900 where "presidents were not able to nominate and confirm a successor during an election year" by describing how neither case "reflects a practice of leaving a seat open on the Supreme Court until after the election":
In the wake of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, questions have arisen about whether there is a standard practice of not nominating and confirming Supreme Court Justices during a presidential election year. The historical record does not reveal any instances since at least 1900 of the president failing to nominate and/or the Senate failing to confirm a nominee in a presidential election year because of the impending election. In that period, there were several nominations and confirmations of Justices during presidential election years.
[...]
In two instances in the twentieth century, presidents were not able to nominate and confirm a successor during an election year. But neither reflects a practice of leaving a seat open on the Supreme Court until after the election.
On September 7, 1956, Sherman Minton announced his intent to retire in a letter to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and he served until October 15, 1956. With the Senate already adjourned, Eisenhower made a recess appointment of William J. Brennan to the Court shortly thereafter; Brennan was formally nominated to the Court and confirmed in 1957. The fact that Eisenhower put Brennan on the Court is inconsistent with any tradition of leaving a seat vacant.
And in 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Abe Fortas, who was already sitting as an Associate Justice, to succeed Chief Justice Earl Warren, but the Fortas nomination was the target of a bipartisan filibuster -- principally in reaction to the Warren Court's liberalism and ethical questions about Fortas, although objections were certainly also made that it was inappropriate to fill the seat in an election year. That filibuster prompted Homer Thornberry, whom Johnson nominated to succeed Fortas as an Associate Justice, to withdraw his name from consideration in October 1968, because there was no vacancy to fill. Moreover, the failure to confirm Fortas as the Chief Justice did not leave the Court short a Justice, because Chief Justice Earl Warren remained on the bench. [SCOTUSblog,
2/13/16]
