Obama said Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is the “right man for the job”.
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However, in the wake of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, Senate Republicans have said they will refuse to meet with Garland or vote on his confirmation during President Obama’s final year in office.
Garland is to call Grassley this afternoon, the senator said Wednesday.
They have refused to schedule any confirmation hearings, and many Republicans-including McConnell-are also rejecting face-to-face meetings.
President Barack Obama nominated veteran appellate court judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, setting up a potentially ferocious political showdown with Senate Republicans who have vowed to block any Obama nominee.
I believe if one of my colleagues objects to a particular nominee, it is certainly appropriate and fair for my colleague to vote against that nominee on the floor of the Senate.
“I don’t think anything has changed with regard to Merrick Garland”, Flake said.
However, some Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Sens.
Vince Insalaco, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said that as many as 14 Supreme Court justices have been confirmed in the last year of a president’s term, most recently in 1988 when Justice Anthony Kennedy was confirmed in the last year of Ronald Reagan’s administration.
Garland was scheduled to venture to Capitol Hill to begin the customary meetings with senators that typically kick off the confirmation process. Experts say that move could backfire for the GOP if Hillary Clinton eventually wins the White House. On that committee is Republican Senator Orin Hatch, who happens to like Garland. Garland has served as a federal appeals court judge for almost two decades. Let me tell you I don’t want to say anything now, but I would find it very hard given the statements that he’s made. Jeff Flake, have signaled they would be willing to meet with Garland or hold a hearing during the lame duck session following the November election. “I will do everything I can to see that there is hearings and a vote takes place and that Garland becomes seated on the Supreme Court”, Sanders said.
Because this is an election year, Obama chose a qualified and not extreme federal judge with probably a shorter life span than his other potential nominees.
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“After the election, I look forward to considering the nominee of our new president”, Sen.
