SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
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.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
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.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.