Republicans are holding up Merrick Garland s nomination to the Supreme Court under the completely B.S. guise of  let the next president choose. Well, if the next President of the United States is Hillary Clinton, there s a good chance Garland (or a different nominee should Clinton pick someone to Garland s left) won t be confirmed.Republicans, 70 days out from the election, are already plotting to obstruct everything Hillary Clinton wants to accomplish, starting on her first day.A recent report for Politico details the Republican Party s  wake up call  to Clinton, with one Republican staffer saying,  her four years will look a lot like the last six years of Obama.  That same staffer, who is apparently  influential  in Congressional proceedings, quipped,  She s talking about things the president couldn t get done; why does she think she will have more luck? After saying things like  I will be president for Democrats, Republicans and independents,  and telling Trump-weary Republicans that they have a home in the Democratic Party, the GOP responds with nothing but what they know best: obstruction.Republicans are already planning on unleashing a new line of obstructionism: pitting Democrats against Clinton.Republican operatives on the Hill, for instance, are already planning to block Clinton s agenda by strategically targeting individual Democratic senators who will be up for reelection in 2018. Take Joe Manchin in West Virginia,  explained one GOP operative of the strategy.  If Hillary puts up an anti-coal, pro-EPA judge for the Supreme Court, the smart play is to start pressuring him with an advocacy campaign to vote no.  Voting with Clinton would jeopardize his reelection chances, and voting against her would rob her of a Democratic Senate vote she couldn t afford to lose without the 60 votes needed to filibuster.So not only can Republicans NOT win on their ideas, they have to coerce Democrats to turn against their own or else they face the wrath of Koch-backed money pouring into midterm elections.The next time a Republican blames Washington s gridlock and hyper partisanship on the Democrats, kindly remind them that Republicans were the ones who met on President Obama s inauguration night to oppose him, and are now pledging (before the election is even over) to obstruct Hillary Clinton.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images