Garland met Thursday with Vermont Sen. Or do they reflect a concern for the American people and the need to have a full complement of justices on the Supreme Court? According to a statement from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the choice to wait stems from a desire to “give the people a voice in filling this vacancy” by letting the newly elected president make the pick. Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, before heading to a meeting with Democratic leader Harry Reid.
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Arkansas’ two Republican U.S. senators said Wednesday they don’t believe President Barack Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court, federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland, should be considered.
The Republicans have not and can not cite a single case in which a president declined to nominate a candidate for any opening on the Supreme Court on the grounds that it was the eighth year of their presidency and it was important to let the voters weigh in.
Garland also talked about how his grandparents emigrated from Russian Federation and eastern Europe to escape chronic anti-Semitism in the 1900s and to build a better life for themselves in the United States.
However, the Republicans in the Senate had promised to block the nomination even before Mr Garland was nominated, claiming that the decision should be left for the next President. It is clear about the president’s authority to nominate justices.
Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., said the Senate should begin considering Garland’s nomination. Now that the president has done his job, it’s time for Senate Republicans to drop their unprecedented and destructive blockade on any nominee.
Garland earned a reputation as an aggressive prosecutor and astutely supervised the Justice Department’s response to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing before being appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where his legal acumen is highly regarded.
“I look forward to sitting down with him and learning more about his judicial philosophy and record”, Heinrich said.
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It’s bald partisanship and nothing more. On that committee is Republican Senator Orin Hatch, who happens to like Garland. His 1997 bipartisan confirmation was supported by seven sitting Republican Senators: “Dan Coats, Thad Cochran, Susan Collins, Orrin Hatch, James Inhofe, John McCain, and Pat Roberts”. “I voted for him earlier”, said one of those senators, Pat Roberts, R-Kan.
