Senate Republicans do not plan to vet or have hearings on the nominee, and say the next President should be able to choose Scalia’s replacement.
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“Of the many powers and responsibilities that the Constitution vests in the presidency, few are more consequential than appointing a Supreme Court justice”.
Republicans in the Senate have promised they will contest President Obama’s choice. At the time of his nomination, Garland nabbed Senate confirmation with an astounding vote of 76 to 23. “And is the hallmark of the kind of judge I have tried to be for the past 18 years”, he said.
Garland, who emerged from a field of attorneys and appeals court judges, first joined the US Circuit Court of Appeals in 1997 by President Bill Clinton.
In his remarks earlier in the day, President Obama had called for the Senate to put politics aside and confirm Garland.
“Rather than nominating an individual who will preserve the conservative legacy of the late Antonin Scalia, President Obama is attempting to solidify his liberal agenda by drastically changing the direction of the Court for decades to come”. Sri Srinivasan and Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia Circuit are considered to be atop the list.
Obama said it was rare to find someone “who just about everyone not only respects, but genuinely likes”. Before that, he was a prosecutor with the Department of Justice, overseeing the Oklahoma City bombing case and the trial of Timothy McVeigh.
At a press conference on the White House lawn, Obama extolled Garland’s virtues, including his integrity, modesty and even-handedness, and his attitude “that all views deserve a respectful ear”.
“In putting forward a nominee today, I am fulfilling my constitutional duty”.
“This critical decision should be made after the upcoming presidential election so that the American people have a voice”, the senator said.
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“You have four Supreme Court judgeships coming up, and that would mean they would take over, that would mean for 50 years, probably, this country will never be the same”, Trump said.
