When we win the presidency and Senate this fall, we must eliminate the filibuster on all nominations

Senate Republicans have demonstrated that they do not take their jobs seriously. They are refusing to offer “advice and consent” when the president nominates a replacement for Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court. They must do their jobs, to paraphrase Elizabeth Warren, even “when that president is a Democrat.” Check out her incredible speech in full here.

The Republicans are using the power the Constitution offers them, but they are doing so in a way that fundamentally rejects the spirit of that great document. The Constitution meant for the president to nominate justices and other officials, and for the Senate to have a say as well, to offer a check and a balance to presidential authority. Republicans seek not to balance presidential authority, but to nullify it.

And yes, I use the word nullify deliberately, as the word nullification was most recently and famously associated with Southern states seeking to preserve segregation by denying the authority of the federal government to enforce civil rights. Senate Republicans today seek to nullify the authority of our country’s first black president. Let them own that stain on their record forever.

The Constitution provides power that can be used, but also abused. Just as the Republicans have the authority to nullify the president’s power, a day will come—and that right soon—when Democrats will have the authority to nullify the ability of Republicans to do so.

On January 3, 2017, when the 115th Congress of the United States comes to order, the Senate Majority Leader—whom we must ensure is a Democrat—should bring to a vote a measure to abolish the filibuster completely and fully on all nominations so that they can be passed by a simple majority vote after a reasonable amount of debate (two hours per nomination seems plenty to me).

Senate Republicans have proven themselves irresponsible by abusing their prerogatives regarding nominations, not just on the pending Supreme Court nomination, but throughout the entire Obama presidency, and in particular since winning the Senate majority in 2014. Through their destructive and unprecedented misuse of power, they have damaged our democracy and demonstrated that they cannot be trusted to wield it in a way consistent with the vision of our Founders.

The first moment Democrats can, they must make sure to bring that abuse to an end, so that our Constitution functions as it was intended.