Michael Moore Calls On Nancy Pelosi To Shut Down Government To Stifle Supreme Court Nomination

Filmmaker Michael Moore on Sunday called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to shut down the government and to stifle the Republican Party’s plans to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s vacant Supreme Court seat, Breitbart reported.

“You have to do something that the Republicans have been doing for decades,” he said to Pelosi on his podcast. “For the first time… you have to block the continuing resolution that funds the government and just let it shut down.”

Moore was referring to the forthcoming government funding bill that is set to reach the House of Representatives soon. As reported by The Hill, Democratic lawmakers are allegedly in a discussion about the legislation, which would likely provide funding for the government into February.

According to the publication, a House Democratic aide said that the majority of Democrats would prefer funding to continue until sometime in 2021. However, Republicans reportedly support a bill that lasts until December. Notably, a longer bill would provide a possible Joe Biden presidency with more leverage.

But Moore does not appear to be on board with such a scenario.

“Shut the whole damn thing down. Shut the government down, so they do not have the funds to try to ram through this person they want to get on the Supreme Court before Trump’s gone.”

The Fahrenheit 11/9 director also proposed an alternative scenario for keeping the government adequately funded.

“Or, make it contingent on [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell signing a pledge, in writing, that he will put no Supreme Court nominee in front of the Senate before inauguration day.”

As Breitbart noted, the House does not have any authority over the high court’s nomination process, and McConnell does not need to defer to Pelosi.

As reported by CNN, Pelosi appeared on This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday and said that she would not be using a government shutdown to hinder Republican efforts to nominate a replacement for Ginsburg. When pressed on the Democratic Party’s plan moving forward, Pelosi remained tight-lipped but suggested that it has plans that she is not ready to make public.

Despite Pelosi’s pushback, Moore claimed that a shutdown is a necessary “sacrifice” that must be taken to ensure that the GOP doesn’t get to tilt the high court into conservative territory.

Per The Hill, Congress and the Trump administration have until September 30 to push through financing legislation and avert a government pause. Pelosi and McConnell have allegedly recently held calls on the matter with the centrist New Democrat Coalition.