Democrat Senators: Ignorant or Lying About the Constitution

"Ed Whelan quotes Senator Dick “Dick” Durbin lying about the text of the Constitution:

Sen. Durbin (9:35): There is no constitutional precedent for what the Republicans announced today. Not only did they say we won’t consider the President’s nominee, we won’t have a hearing, we won’t have a vote, Senator McConnell the Republican leader said “I won’t even meet with this nominee.” That has never happened before in history. The Constitution which we’ve sworn to uphold is very clear when it comes to Article two, section two. The President shall appoint a nominee to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court and the Senate shall by advice and consent vote on that nominee. Those are not, uh, vague words. Those are words that impose a responsibility on the Senate which the republican leader is ignoring.

Those are not vague words — and also, as Whelan notes, those are not the words of the Constitution:

No, Senator Durbin, Article II, section 2 of the Constitution does not say what you claim it says. It says, rather, that the president “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint … Judges of the Supreme Court” (and other federal judges). It nowhere imposes on the Senate a requirement to vote on any nominee."

[Patterico]