Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland will submit a questionnaire detailing his credentials and experience to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, taking another step in the White House’s push to break the Senate blockade on his nomination.
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“I simply ask Republicans in the Senate to give him a fair hearing, and then an up-or-down vote”, Obama said during his nomination announcement.
Wisconsin’s senior US senator called their meeting “very cordial” but said it didn’t change his mind that the Senate shouldn’t consider any nominee until the next president is sworn in.
“Majority Leader [Mitch] McConnell and the Senate Judiciary Committee must schedule a hearing and allow a timely up-or-down vote on the President’s nominee”, Van Hollen said in a statement. While some Republicans have met with Garland, including committee chair Sen. Notably, Garland mentions in the questionnaire that that none of the opinions he has authored have been reversed-either by the D.C. Circuit court sitting en banc or the Supreme Court of the United States. “You think the voters should have a say in this before dealing with the Supreme Court vacancy”.
“If he’s going to appoint people like that I don’t have any doubt”, Grassley said after a weeklong recess week back home in which liberal activist groups were relentless in pressuring the senator to hold hearings on Garland. Garland’s account of his most significant opinions as a judge includes one that upheld a ban on campaign contributions from federal contractors. The judge will also meet with six senators – five Democrats and a Republican – this week. When pressed by reporters Tuesday, Leahy would not commit to continuing with the Garland nomination if Clinton were to win the Oval Office in November.
The GOP’s reaffirmation not to act on President Barack Obama’s nominee came in the wake of Donald Trump effectively winning the Republican nomination last week.
But Severino did acknowledge that there might be an additional effort to highlight Garland’s record, and counteract those who argue that Garland is a moderate judge, and therefore should be confirmed.
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Judge Garland was nominated by the White House in March to fill the vacancy left on the nations highest court following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February.
