Senate Republicans are to blame for Thursday’s Supreme Court decision that stopped President Obama’s deportation amnesty program, Hillary Clinton said in a statement, charging that the court would have ruled in the administration’s favor if only there had been one more liberal Justice on the bench.
In its deadlocked 4-4 decision, the high court halted the White House’s plans to grant work permits to as many as 5 million illegal immigrants currently in the country. The decision likely would’ve been 5-4 against the administration if not for the death of Justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year.
But Mrs. Clinton said the blame lies not with the court but with Senate Republicans, who have refused to vote on Scalia’s potential replacement, U.S. Appeal Court Judge Merrick Garland.
“in addition to throwing millions of families across our country into a state of uncertainty, this decision reminds us how much damage Senate Republicans are doing by refusing to consider President Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court,” the former secretary of state said, assuming Mr. Garland would’ve come down on the administration’s side. “Our families and our country need and deserve a full bench, and Senate Republicans need to stop playing political games with our democracy and give Judge Merrick Garland a fair hearing and vote.”
Mrs. Clinton also used the ruling to slam her Republican presidential opponent, Donald Trump.
“This decision is also a stark reminder of the harm Donald Trump would do to our families, our communities, and our country. Trump has pledged to repeal President Obama’s executive actions on his first day in office,” she said. “He has called Mexican immigrants ’rapists’ and ’murderers.’ He has called for creating a deportation force” to tear 11 million people away from their families and their homes.”
SEE ALSO: Obama: Most illegals still won’t be deported
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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