Within minutes of Garland’s nomination, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid accused Republicans of “blindly taking their marching orders” from Trump.
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After the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, heavy debate arose over who would be his successor.
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.
Senate Republicans have insisted for weeks that they won’t hold hearings or a confirmation vote on Obama’s pick. “He is widely admired throughout the legal profession and is one of the most accomplished judges on the federal bench”.
Does anyone really believe McConnell would be blocking any Supreme Court nomination if it were sent to the Senate by an outgoing white Republican president?
However, at least 6 Republican senators are open to meeting with Garland, that includes Utah Senator Orrin Hatch who once praised Garland, but Hatch is now clarifying his endorsement.
U.S. Sen Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in a statement, “In a few short months, we will have a new president and new senators who can consider the next justice with the full faith of the people”.
If confirmed, Garland would be the ninth Jewish Supreme Court justice ever and would be the fourth on the current Court. Senate Republican leaders have vowed not to hold confirmation hearings or an up-or-down vote on any Supreme Court nominee put forward by Obama, whose term ends in January.
“If you don’t then it will not only be an abdication of the senate’s constitutional duty, it will begin a process that is beyond fix”, said Obama. “There hasn’t been a vacancy created in a presidential election year filled in 80 years, so this vacancy will not be filled”, McConnell said.
Judge Garland is a Harvard-educated Chicago native who’s dedicated to his life to the law.
Garland was named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit by President Bill Clinton in 1997 and became chief judge in 2013.
“I think Mitch McConnell … maybe offer a deal to Obama: ‘I’ll give you your nominee if you’ll have the DOJ indict Hillary, ‘” Limbaugh said. “I remain convinced that the best way for the Senate to do its job is to conduct the confirmation process after this toxic presidential election season is over”.
“I’m actually big into reality here”, Johnson said.
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“The position that we’ve taken consistently is that this is a decision the American people can now make during an election year”, Wicker said.
