A Republican senator said Tuesday she is “more convinced than ever” that there should be hearings on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee after meeting with Judge Merrick Garland.
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Garland faces a steep climb to the nation’s high court, as most Senate Republicans have said they oppose holding confirmation hearings and would rather wait to fill the court’s vacancy after a new president is sworn in.
Obama nominated Garland last month after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is saying there will be no hearings or votes on Garland’s nomination. “In November, Americans will be reminded that Republicans are thwarting the Constitutional process”, Simpson said.
The Senate should give the very same consideration that it has given to every other Supreme Court nominee to Judge Garland-a widely-admired and deeply-experienced jurist with a stellar judicial record.
The struggle over Garland’s nomination threatens to tie incumbent Republican senators more closely to their party and all of its political ballast. White House spokesman Josh Earnest has repeatedly made the case that Garland deserves a hearing in daily press briefings. But that dynamic between Mr. Obama and congressional Republicans reached critical mass in the summer of 2014, when House Republicans voted to sue the president over his use of executive authority.
As for Garland’s supposed “sympathy for federal government bureaucracy”, it’s unclear exactly what Moran’s aide means by that, but it’s worth noting that a huge number of the cases heard by the D.C. Circuit involve challenges to actions taken or rules promulgated by federal agencies.
“I think they all understand that I have to be separate from the leader”, Kirk said, noting that he represents IL, which tends to lean Democratic.
Democratic senators, returning to Washington after a two-week recess, picked up the Garland drumbeat Tuesday.
Others have said they will meet with Garland privately for a “courtesy visit”. All three lawmakers are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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The senator called Garland Monday night to invite him to a breakfast meeting. If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, and if GOP intransigence on Garland helps Democrats retake the Senate, there will be pressure from the left to drop Garland and to have Clinton name a much more liberal candidate. Rob Portman, who is running for re-election in a key swing state, to “do your job”, which has been the rallying cry of Democrats. His legal career took a similar positive track, serving as law clerk to a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Supreme Court Justice William Brennan.
