At 1:07 p.m., the Washington Post reported that President Obama was considering nominating Republican Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval to take Antonin Scalia’s place on the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, Republicans announced that they will not consider any Obama nominees to the court. Less than an hour after the Post’s story went up, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee member/Majority Whip John Cornyn had already both made it known that their vow of intransigence extends to Sandoval as well:
Did Obama leak the Sandoval rumor just so that Republicans would look ridiculous by refusing to consider him? I don’t know—but it does certainly make the Republicans look ridiculous! He should escalate it by floating the possibility of nominating an actual sitting Republican senator. (“McConnell Rejects Possibility of McConnell SCOTUS Nom”?)
