“I haven’t seen the names,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and a veteran of multiple Supreme Court fights. “But when they had a consensus person with Merrick Garland, every single Republican who raised their hand and solemnly swore before God to uphold the Constitution refused to follow the Constitution and even have a hearing.”
You get the feeling that these guys have talked themselves into the view that there is an actual clause of the Constitution that commands Senate hearings when the president makes a Supreme Court nomination (or maybe just if the nominee is a “consensus person”).