June 26, 2018

Mitch McConnell Celebrates SCOTUS Travel Ban Decision With Neil Gorsuch Photo

Taking a victory lap around a stolen seat.

Tom Williams/ZUMA

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday to uphold President Donald Trump’s travel ban by posting an image of him welcoming Neil Gorsuch—the Supreme Court justice whose appointment to the high court can be directly traced to McConnell’s extraordinary stonewalling of Merrick Garland, former President Barack Obama’s nominee for the position, in 2016.

Gorsuch was one of the five justices contributing to the majority’s decision, which will allow the government to bar nearly 150 million people, most of them Muslim, from entering the United States. 

Democrats and opponents of the travel ban instantly slammed McConnell’s photo. For many, it was a reminder of the far-reaching, even devastating, consequences of Republicans’ 10-month-long refusal to hold hearings for Garland.

For more on how Trump and Gorsuch are quickly reshaping the federal courts to appoint lifetime conservative judges, read our deep dive here.

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