Scolds Senate

Coons scolds Senate Republicans on Supreme Court

By Nick Gass

Sen. Chris Coons reacted to the Senate Judiciary Committee's decision on Tuesday with scorn for his Republican colleagues' "elementary-school response" to the Supreme Court vacancy.

“This is a sad development. This is a striking development. In the century since the Judiciary Committee was formed in the Senate, every single nominee has gotten a hearing, has gotten a vote on the Senate floor and in the committee," the Delaware Democrat said in a segment with MSNBC's "Morning Joe," appearing with Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.).

Coons added that the fact that this is the eighth year of President Barack Obama's second term does not preclude him from sending a nominee to the Senate or from lawmakers considering that nominee, which Republican leadership has said it will not do.

"And for the Senate of the United States to simply go ‘nah, nah, nah, nah,'" Coons said, putting his hands over his ears, "that’s not advise and consent. That’s an elementary-school response, not a grown-up response.”

Gardner responded that the American people "should decide" who gets to nominate the next justice, pointing to the Republican Party's midterm victories in 2014 as evidence that the will of the electorate is not with the Democrats. “What about the election of the majority in 2014?” he asked.

“And you all are flummoxed as to why Donald Trump is doing so well. There’s your answer," co-host Mika Brzezinski said at the end of the segment.