The U.S. Constitution basically says, in part, the president “shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint … judges of the Supreme Court”.
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In a letter to Senate leaders, the legal advocates argue that the GOP blockade is injecting politics into the courts that “materially hampers the effective operation” of the judiciary.
When it comes to Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court nomination, Republican Sen. “True, nothing in the Constitution requires a hearing or a vote, but a good faith interpretation of the phrase “advise and consent” would seem to require more than a preemptive veto over any nominees in the past year of any president’s term”.
He was reacting to remarks that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. made before Scalia’s death about the nomination process.
Yesterday afternoon the senior senator from Iowa hit a new low in trying to justify his unprecedented obstruction of President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland.
He said Americans should respond to attacks by vowing to “go to a ballgame and do all of the things that make our lives worthwhile”, while its leaders should make clear to violent extremists “we will hunt you down and we will get you”.
U.S. Sen. David Perdue is the junior senator from Georgia and serves on the Senate Budget, Foreign Relations, Agriculture, and Judiciary Committees.
Taken for a bit of a dunce when first elected, Senator Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa, has acquired a certain owly stature over the years. Why? Not necessarily from Democrat presidents, probably more from Republican presidents.
Toomey has opposed considering a nominee to replace late Justice Antonin Scalia until after the presidential election, but announced last month that he would meet with Garland “out of courtesy and respect for both the president and the judge”.
The Republican Party’s posturing is irresponsible and lacks political precedent.
Recognize this for what it was: The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman casting aspersions on the chief justice’s legal reasoning – and then warning him against making any comments that would hurt the GOP’s obstruct-Garland cause.
“And what I also know, because I handle a lot of classified information, is that there are – there’s classified and then there’s classified”.
The responsible course of action is to avoid the political theater and allow the American people to decide.
“The confirmation process doesn’t make the justices appear political”, Grassley said.
I was a member of the Senate when we had the hearings regarding Justice Roberts. Grassley will perhaps be collateral damage as the Republican party continues to deny progress.
Though it may be painful, however, it is of supreme importance that we take this opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of textualism as an approach to reigning in an errant Court.
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And while he didn’t delve deeply into the political race Thursday, Obama is expected to use the Supreme Court issue as a cudgel in the coming election. A recent Public Policy Polling survey found that 62% of Wisconsin voters, including 67% of independents, said the vacant Supreme Court seat should be filled this year. Of his constituents, McCain said, “They would ask”.
