“It turns out, Gov. Sandoval “[withdrew] himself from consideration for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court” on Thursday morning-how convenient!
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In a statement, Sandoval said he has also “expressed the same desire” to Senators Harry Reid, Dean Heller and Mitch McConnell. Rob Portman of Ohio, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin as potential Republican converts to at least convening hearings on a Supreme Court nominee.
“Even after the fact, I’m not going to get into a lot of details about who’s on the president’s list and who is not”, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.
As the White House is vetting Nevada’s Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval for the Supreme Court, columnist for the National Review John Fund notes that this pick would be “horrific” news for conservatives because he is the most liberal of the country’s 29 Republican governors. Sandoval spoke out after being identified as a possible candidate to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. “The Constitution doesn’t say that in an election year, ‘Delay, delay, delay, ‘” she said, raising her voice.
The Senate must confirm any high court nominee, but McConnell remained unswayed even with word that Obama was considering the Republican Sandoval for the job.
The 52-year-old is described as a centrist Republican.
Democracy for America said “nominating Sandoval to the Supreme Court would not only prevent grassroots organizations like Democracy for America from supporting the president in this nomination fight, it could lead us to actively encouraging Senate Democrats to oppose his appointment”.
The Republican governor didn’t offer a reason for his decision.
The White House on Thursday said the President will meet next week with the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate along with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“It’s just not the right time”, the source said.
“To suggest that any president in the past year of his term should stop performing his constitutionnal duties is irresponsible”, said Hart.
At the same time, several Democrats and party interest groups rose up in opposition after the Washington Post reported Wednesday that Sandoval was under consideration for the seat that opened when Scalia died February 13.
Grassley, Iowa’s senior senator and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, confirmed the meeting in a statement on Thursday after initially refusing to respond to an invitation.
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McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said Wednesday that the leader’s office is working with the White House to schedule a meeting with the president, but he said that McConnell’s position will not change.
