John Divers: GOP’s lust for power knows no bounds

Regarding the April 5 news article “With Gorsuch nomination, Senate seems poised to kill a tradition”: The Republican power play in the Senate to elect Neil Gorsuch shows that honor and collegiality and plain fairness are no match for their lust for power.

They stole a Supreme Court seat by refusing even to consider President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland, while recording a record number of filibusters against the former president’s judicial nominees. That obstruction led then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to opt for the simple majority vote for lower court nominees, leaving in place the 60 votes for Supreme Court judges.

By choosing the “nuclear option,” Republicans have shown their disdain for collegiality. Faced with their injustice against Garland and Democrats’ substantive opposition to Gorsuch’s judicial record, the Republican majority could have asked President Trump to consider a more acceptable nominee, had they truly valued collegiality.

But the GOP members for a long time, by their actions, have indicated that if they had their way, our legislative system would be a one party system, that their ideology alone could bring justice and prosperity to our nation.

This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 6:11 PM with the headline "John Divers: GOP’s lust for power knows no bounds."