How SCOTUS Nominations Became All-Out War

Almost no event brings Washington to a halt like a Supreme Court nomination. This week, Mitch McConnell and the president are ignoring every other priority in Washington—including a much-needed trillion-dollar relief package—in the interest of quickly confirming Amy Coney Barrett, whose questioning began today. In 2016, McConnell did the opposite, blocking President Barack Obama’s court nomination because it happened to fall in an election year. The Democrats, appalled by the Republicans’ naked exercise of power, are considering their own responses, including new Supreme Court term limits and altering the size of the nation’s highest court to stuff it with progressives. How did we get to this point, where the nomination of a single judge can eclipse all other national governing priorities—and both parties approach these moments as partisan power plays rather than what’s in the best interests of the country