“Good government calls for us to have a hearing and vote up or down”, Starr said during a panel discussion at the Baylor Law School on Wednesday, according to a Waco Tribune-Herald report.
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Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Judiciary Committee chairman, hosted Garland for breakfast in the private Senate Dining Room in what was the most anticipated meeting yet between a GOP senator and President Obama’s choice for the high court.
Risch aroused attention after McClatchy reported that Risch said he had no plans to meet with Garland until the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on his nomination. Rob Portman is locked in a tough battle with former Gov. Ted Strickland (D). But the senator says he still believes that awaiting the result of the presidential election will give a nominee more legitimacy.
President Barack Obama tapped Garland to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February. Meeting with Chief Judge Garland is also a basic courtesy to this fair-minded, accomplished nominee, who has spent nearly three decades in public service and has more federal judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in history.
In an op-ed Portman referred to Scalia as a respected jurist and the acknowledged intellectual leader of the four conservative justices on a balanced Supreme Court, with four conservative and four liberal justices and a swing vote that has often determined the outcome.
Simple enough. The president shall nominate.
“I think the question now, though, particularly for the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is, well, now that your senator has had the opportunity to hear from Chief Judge Garland, shouldn’t you get the benefit of hearing from him too?”
Kirk appeared Wednesday morning on “The Big John Howell Show” on WLS, the same program where last month he encouraged Republicans to “man up”, and vote on Garland’s nomination.
Warner said he hopes the nomination process can be de-politicized.
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“This will be obviously a very consequential seat that will determine the direction of the court for some time”, Portman said. “Because of this, Senator Gardner will not be meeting with Judge Garland”, said Gardner spokesman Alex Siciliano in a statement. As Republicans say their refusal to hold confirmation hearings is a matter of principle, I asked my Republican friend Bentley what the principle is.
