Time for some amendments
In the U. S. Senate, the Republican "leadership" (or lack thereof) has chosen to abdicate their Constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on the nomination of Merrick Garland to the U. S. Supreme Court.
One suggestion has been that President Obama wait until "enough time" has passed with the Senate failing to act on his nomination of Garland and then just swear Garland in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court himself; arguing that the silence of the Senate is their implied approval of the nominee. One of the arguments offered against this idea was that there is no time limit set forth in the Constitution for the Senate to carry out their duty to provide advice and consent. That got me thinking that this would be a good moment to make some amendments to the Constitution. Here is a rough draft of some idea for a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
The Constitution of the United States, as previously ratified and amended, is further amended as follows:
Article 2, Section 2 is amended to add the following language: "It is the duty of the Senate to provide their advice and consent to any presidential nomination within 90 days of a nomination being made. If the Senate fails to do so, consent of the nomination will be considered to have been given and the nominee will assume the duties to which they were appointed.
Article 2, Section 2 is amended to add the following language: "The Senate will enter into recess for a period of one week on two separate occasions per year. The Senators, by majority vote, will choose the periods of recess each year prior to the end of January.
Article 2, Section 3 is amended to add the following language: "The president cannot pick and choose among the laws of the United States in terms of enforcing them. The duty of the president is to enforce all laws enacted by Congress and signed into law by a president throughout the entirety of the president's tenure in office.
* * *
I thought about adding some things about exercise of good judgment and common sense but realized that would be a waste of time.
One suggestion has been that President Obama wait until "enough time" has passed with the Senate failing to act on his nomination of Garland and then just swear Garland in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court himself; arguing that the silence of the Senate is their implied approval of the nominee. One of the arguments offered against this idea was that there is no time limit set forth in the Constitution for the Senate to carry out their duty to provide advice and consent. That got me thinking that this would be a good moment to make some amendments to the Constitution. Here is a rough draft of some idea for a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
The Constitution of the United States, as previously ratified and amended, is further amended as follows:
Article 2, Section 2 is amended to add the following language: "It is the duty of the Senate to provide their advice and consent to any presidential nomination within 90 days of a nomination being made. If the Senate fails to do so, consent of the nomination will be considered to have been given and the nominee will assume the duties to which they were appointed.
Article 2, Section 2 is amended to add the following language: "The Senate will enter into recess for a period of one week on two separate occasions per year. The Senators, by majority vote, will choose the periods of recess each year prior to the end of January.
Article 2, Section 3 is amended to add the following language: "The president cannot pick and choose among the laws of the United States in terms of enforcing them. The duty of the president is to enforce all laws enacted by Congress and signed into law by a president throughout the entirety of the president's tenure in office.
* * *
I thought about adding some things about exercise of good judgment and common sense but realized that would be a waste of time.
posted by me at 2:30 PM
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