According to her, these senators all have formidable Democratic challengers, and a Supreme Court nomination being up front and center is not something they wanted this year.
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Federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland accompanied by President Barack Obama, speaks as he is introduced as Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court during an announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House, in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2016.
Will makes the case that there’s plenty in Garland’s judicial philosophy conservatives should be encouraged by, and whatever “reach into the future” Obama is hoping for is somewhat limited by Garland’s age.
Republican senators, even those who have expressed admiration for Garland, have vowed to block any selection by Obama.
Collins, for her part, again called on the Senate to go through the process of vetting the nominee and holding a hearing. Perhaps they are still furious about the treatment Robert Bork received at the hands of a Democratic senate majority a generation ago – though Bork was, of course, given a hearing, a committee vote and an up-or-down vote by the full senate. Merrick Garland welcome to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In choosing a centrist judge with Republican appeal, Obama also set up a quandary for the Democrats vying to succeed him.
Brian Deese, a senior adviser to the president, said the White House would “explicitly request” a meeting for Garland with all 54 Republicans. She had no choice but to embrace the mild-mannered moderate whom Democrats plan to make into a symbol of Republican obstruction.
So far, though, just one Republican senator – Mark Kirk of IL – has broken with party leaders and called for a vote on Garland.
“I do not believe they have the right to say we are not going to have hearings because we have a presidential election”.
“We were, however, gratified to see more than a handful of senators changing their position yesterday and agreeing to meet with Justice Garland”, McDonough said.
They will air in six states and target senators of both parties: Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire; Joe Manchin III, D-West Virginia; Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota; Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa; Michael F. Bennet, D-Colorado and Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana.
“One week ago, Mark Kirk said he ‘certainly would’ support Donald Trump if he’s the Republican nominee – an outcome that is becoming increasingly likely”, Duckworth campaign spokesman Matt McGrath told Ward Room.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, like Scalia, he was clerk for a pair of legendary judges, Henry Friendly and William Brennan, and a partner at a prominent law firm which he gave up to work for a lot less money as a prosecutor in the District of Columbia.
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Sanders said if he’s elected he’d ask Obama to pull the nomination. But he added: “Do I wish we had a better nominee?”
