The White House said Wednesday that President Obama regrets joining Senate Democrats in 2006 to filibuster the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Alito was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2006, and then-Senator Obama and 23 other Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, unsuccessfully attempted to stage a filibuster to block his confirmation, according to The Washington Times.
"As the president alluded to yesterday, he regrets the vote he made because...Democrats should have been a position in which they were making a public case; that's what Democrats should have done," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, according to The Washington Examiner. "They shouldn't have just looked for ways to throw sand in the gears of the process, and, frankly...the president believes he should have followed his own advice and made a strong public case on the merits about his opposition to the nomination that President Bush had put forward."
Obama is preparing to fulfill what he says is his constitutional obligation to nominate a successor to replace recently-deceased Justice Antonin Scalia. Many Republicans have objected to this though, with some even vowing to block the hearings, saying the decision should be left to the next president, as they fear Obama's nominee could give the high court a liberal majority. Obama has told Senate Republicans that they have an obligation to hold confirmation hearings, and the president is now being accused of hypocrisy given his past attempt to block a nomination.
But Earnest insisted Wednesday that Obama's beef with Alito was different than Republicans' current plan to block to Obama's nominee.
"These are two different things. The president's objections to then-President Bush's nominee were based in substance," Earnest said, noting that Republicans' intentions are purely political, as they are in blanket opposition without even knowing who Obama will nominate.
"The wording in the Constitution is unambiguous and does not provide exceptions for election years," Earnest said. Earnest further argued that Obama's filibuster was symbolic because Alito already had the votes needed to get confirmed, according to The Hill.
Rumors are swirling that Attorney General Loretta Lynch is the most likely to be nominated, as she has already been vetted by the Senate, though Earnest would not comment.
