Thurmond rule

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The Thurmond rule was first posited by Senator Strom Thurmond in 1968. StromThurmond.png
The Thurmond rule was first posited by Senator Strom Thurmond in 1968.

The Thurmond rule in U.S. politics posits that, at some point in a U.S. presidential election year, the U.S. Senate should not confirm the president's nominees to the federal judiciary, except under certain circumstances. The basic premise is that the President and the Senate majority usually are of opposite political ideologies, and as such the Judiciary Committee will not allow an appointee to receive a floor vote from the entire Senate during a presidential election year.

Contents

The practice is not an actual rule, but a myth. It has not always been followed in the past, with presidents continuing to appoint and the Senate continuing to confirm judicial nominees during election years, but nevertheless, inconsistently invoked by senators from both political parties, usually when politically advantageous to do so.

Description

The Thurmond rule "has its origins in June 1968, when Senator Strom Thurmond, Republican of South Carolina, blocked President Lyndon B. Johnson's appointment of Justice Abe Fortas as chief justice." [1] The "rule" has been variously described:

Nonapplication

Stephen Breyer was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the First Circuit Court of Appeals on November 13, 1980, and confirmed by the Senate on December 9, 1980, both during Carter's lame duck period. Breyer was later elevated to the Supreme Court. Stephen Breyer, SCOTUS photo portrait.jpg
Stephen Breyer was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the First Circuit Court of Appeals on November 13, 1980, and confirmed by the Senate on December 9, 1980, both during Carter's lame duck period. Breyer was later elevated to the Supreme Court.

The "rule" is not observed consistently by the Senate. A 2012 study by judicial expert Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institution showed that in each of the four previous presidential election years (1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008), the pace of federal judicial nominations and confirmations slowed but did not stop. [8] Wheeler describes the "rule" as a myth, noting that while it becomes more difficult for a president to push through his nominees in his last year of office, nominations and confirmations have been routinely made in presidential election years. [9]

Similarly, a 2008 Congressional Research Service report could not identify any "consistently observed date or point in time after which the Senate ceased processing district and circuit nominations during the presidential election years from 1980 to 2004." [2] For instance, in December 1980, Stephen Breyer (who later became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States) was confirmed as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Additionally, in 1984, when Thurmond was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, judicial confirmations occurred that fall. [10]

Politifact has rated Marco Rubio's claim that "there comes a point in the last year of the president, especially in their second term, where [the president] stop[s] nominating" both Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges as "false." [9]

Political invocation

Sarah A. Binder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, notes that although studies have shown "that there is no such formal 'rule,'" that "hasn't stopped senators from either party from talking about the practice as a rule or often even as a doctrine. Because both parties have, over time, valued their ability to block the president's judicial nominees, keeping alive the Thurmond Rule has proved convenient for both parties at different times." [11] Glenn Kessler and Aaron Blake of The Washington Post note that senators of both political parties—such as Mitch McConnell and Pat Leahy —frequently flip-flop on the issue of judicial nominations in presidential election years, alternately invoking the Thurmond Rule and denying its validity, depending on which party controls the Senate and the White House. [12] [13] For example, in 2004, when George W. Bush was president, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah dismissed the rule, saying "Strom Thurmond unilaterally on his own ... when he was chairman could say whatever he wanted to, but that didn't bind the whole committee, and it doesn't bind me." [14] Kessler concludes that "both parties can be viewed as hypocritical, situational and prone to flip-flopping, depending on which party holds the presidency and/or the Senate." [12]

2016 and 2020 controversies

The Thurmond Rule was raised again in public discourse in February 2016 after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. President Barack Obama said he would nominate a candidate for the open seat, but with just under one year remaining in Barack Obama's second term, Republicans claimed the Thurmond Rule for categorically refusing to vote on any Obama nominee. [15]

Following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020, just over a month and a half before the next presidential election, Senate Majority Leader McConnell said that in contrast with 2016, recent Republican gains in 2018 midterm elections would allow a Republican Supreme Court nomination to go forward in the Senate during a presidential election year. [16]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Daniel Victor, What Is the 'Thurmond Rule'?, New York Times (February 13, 2016).
  2. 1 2 Denis Steven Rutkus & Kevin M. Scot, Nomination and Confirmation of Lower Federal Court Judges in Presidential Election Years, Congressional Research Service (August 13, 2008).
  3. ↑ Al Kamen, Judicial Nominees: Beware the Thurmond Rule, Washington Post (February 3, 2012).
  4. ↑ Bush Stirs Sparks on Judges, CBS News/The Politico (October 2, 2007).
  5. ↑ What is the Thurmond "Rule"?, American Constitution Society (n.d.).
  6. ↑ Kyle C. Barry, Judicial Confirmations in 2016: The Myth of the Thurmond Rule, Alliance for Justice (January 4, 2016).
  7. ↑ Letter from Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III, President, American Bar Association, to Senate Leadership (June 20, 2012).
  8. ↑ Russell Wheeler, Judicial Confirmations: What Thurmond Rule?, Brookings Institution (March 19, 2012).
  9. 1 2 Linda Qiu, Do presidents stop nominating judges in final year?, Politifact (February 14, 2016).
  10. ↑ Geoff Earle, "Senators Spar Over 'Thurmond Rule,'" The Hill (July 21, 2004), p. 4.
  11. ↑ Sarah A. Binder, 'Tis the Season for the Thurmond Rule, Brookings Institution (June 14, 2012).
  12. 1 2 Glenn Kessler, A bushel of flip-flops on approving judicial nominees, Washington Post (February 23, 2016).
  13. ↑ Aaron Blake, Schumer, McConnell or Leahy: Who flip-flopped the most on election-year Supreme Court nominees?, Washington Post (February 16, 2016).
  14. ↑ Davidson, Lee. “Griffith to miss Demos' deadline”, Deseret Morning News (2004-07-21).
  15. ↑ Martin, Gary (September 26, 2020). "McConnell Rule? Biden Rule? The politics behind this Supreme Court pick". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  16. ↑ Hulse, Carl (2020-09-18). "For McConnell, Ginsburg's Death Prompts Stark Turnabout From 2016 Stance". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-09-19.
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