Republican Senators Are Refusing To Hear Any Supreme Court Nominations

US Republican senators are truly taking procrastination to new heights. Except, unlike when you put off writing your final paper, this procrastination affects the future of the entire country. That may sound like an exaggeration, but it's seriously not.

On Tuesday, several key Republican senators reportedly held a meeting at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office to discuss their plans for the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia unexpectedly died earlier this month, leaving a space open on the Supreme Court. Now, what's supposed to happen is President Barack Obama will nominate someone to fill that spot, and then the Senate will meet to decide whether or not to confirm that nomination.

But, the Republican-led Senate made it very clear not only will it not confirm a nomination from Obama, but the Republican senators will not even consider it.

The senators left the meeting at McConnell's office on Tuesday telling reporters they had decided to not hear a Supreme Court nomination until the next president takes office, according to Talking Points Memo.

Republicans keep saying Americans should pick the next Supreme Court justice, meaning Americans should choose a president who will then choose the justice. This is political bullsh*t. What they really mean is they don't want a more liberal justice, whom Obama is likely to nominate, to fill the Supreme Court space.

The Supreme Court will continue to function with just eight justices, but an even number of justices means ties will inevitably happen. Ties go to lower courts and do not set national precedents, so they are more or less a waste of time and losses for the US judicial system.

In case you're not sure how much the Supreme Court personally affects you, the court's decisions cover things like same-sex marriage, religious businesses' decisions to not cover employees' birth control, the legality of affirmative action, Obama's healthcare law and abortion.

For his part, Obama said he will fight to get a nominee heard.

In a press conference last week, he said,

I intend to do my job between now and January 20 of 2017. I expect [the Senators] to do their job as well.

But, it looks like the Republican senators have no intention of doing so.

Citations: Key GOP Senators Emerge From Meeting: No Hearing For Obama SCOTUS Nom (Talking Points Memo), Obama: Will nominate 'indisputably' qualified Supreme Court justice (Al Jazeera America)