WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are in the middle of pulling off one of the great political heists in American history: the theft of a seat on the United States Supreme Court. And this theft, if successful, will have an enormous impact on the integrity of the Supreme Court and major issues from reproductive and labor rights to consumer and environmental protection.

This crime against our Constitution began when Justice Antonin Scalia died nearly a year ago. Senate Republicans decided that day, before President Barack Obama even nominated a candidate to fill the seat, that they would reject their constitutional duty to provide “advice and consent” on any nominee he put forward.

After President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland, they refused to hold committee hearings on his nomination or a committee vote. They were determined that his nomination would never reach the Senate floor, where they believed that he would stand an excellent chance of being confirmed.

It is important to understand the motivation for this crime. The thing the Republican leadership feared most was that an Obama nominee would rule against the huge influx of “dark” money into political campaigns that is corrupting our system of government. They feared this outcome more than any other because it is that dark money, a vast amount of which came from the Koch brothers and their organization, that has played a huge role in putting the Republicans in the Senate majority.