Republican leaders, however, held to their refusal to consider any nominee, saying the seat should be filled by the next president after this year’s election. Either way, our view is this: “Give the people a voice in the filling of this vacancy”.
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McConell said that there are more pressing issues with bi-partisan support that should receive attention rather than “endlessly debating an issue where we don’t agree”. Joe Biden in 1992 speaking against George H.W. Bush nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year.
McConnell’s comments came after a pledge he made last month that the Senate would take no action on the nomination, setting the stage for a political fight.
“The next justice could fundamentally alter the direction of the Supreme Court and have a profound impact on our country, so of course the American people should have a say in the court’s direction”, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday on the floor of the Senate.
Federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland headed to Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon to meet with senators, beginning the traditional ritual of any nominee to the Supreme Court. After years in a private law firm, he became a prosecutor in the Justice Department, where he managed the case against the Oklahoma City bombers in 1995, then oversaw the investigation of the “Unabomber”.
Garland, who had been passed over before, choked back tears, calling the nomination “the greatest honor of my life”.
Obama’s choice risks deflating some of the energy among the Democratic base.
In a speech in the White House Rose Garden, Obama praised Garland, a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law School and an appointee of president Bill Clinton as “one of America sharpest legal minds”.
McConnell and Grassley were among four GOP senators still serving who opposed his confirmation to the court of appeals in 1997, while seven remaining Republicans voted “yes”.
No one questions the qualifications, intellect or integrity of the man President Obama nominated to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
“We are seeing cracks on the Republican side”, Schumer told reporters as he gathered on the Supreme Court steps with other Democratic senators.
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“President Obama has done his job-selecting a nominee and sending that nominee to the Senate-and it’s time for the Senate to do its job”, Warren said.
