In March 2016, however, when President Obama nominated Merrick Garland—a highly qualified and moderate judge—for the court, Senate Republicans refused to hold hearings on the grounds that it was an election year. Denying the president’s ability to fill a Supreme Court vacancy clearly violated the spirit of the Constitution. It allowed Senate Republicans to steal a Supreme Court seat (Donald Trump filled the seat with Neil Gorsuch in 2017). But because the Constitution does not specify when the Senate must take up presidential court nominees, the theft was entirely legal.
