Four weeks ago today, President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland for the U.S. Supreme Court, effectively offering the Senate Republican majority a compromise choice.
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Senator Chuck Grassley had breakfast with President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, Tuesday morning. Republicans in the Senate have vowed not to hold hearings on any Obama nominee, instead saying the next president should be allowed to pick a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died suddenly in February.
Told of Grassley’s meeting with Garland as he entered the Capitol Tuesday near the dining room, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said, “I’m glad he’s doing something”.
Grassley told CNN “nothing has changed” and that he won’t be scheduling any confirmation hearings on Garland.
Over breakfast, the Iowa Republican “explained why the Senate won’t be moving forward during this hyper-partisan election year”, his office said.
On the ground in Grassley’s home state of Iowa, a clear rift is being exposed between those who are encouraging Grassley’s continued intransigence and the constituents who are calling for their senator to do his job. Whether or not Senators choose to meet with Judge Garland is up to them, most grassroots conservatives across the country don’t have an opinion either way on meetings.
The White House has continued to execute a confirmation game plan that is aimed at keeping pressure on Republican senators who are up for reelection this year.
He later agreed to an interview with CNN reporters who waited outside his office and said he made a decision to meet with Garland because “it was the right thing to do”.
Democrats have called for hearings and a vote on Garland’s nomination. The president can only nominate, it is the Senate that has the constitutional role of advising, consenting and ultimately confirming that nominee to the court. Indeed, we can be sure that eventually the shoe will be on the other foot, and so let us stand now for principle so that we will not be hypocrites when the political situation is reversed. The only publicly released photo of the meeting came via Grassley’s Instagram account.
Conservative groups issued statements supporting Grassley.
Fifteen former American Bar Association presidents are joining the push to urge Republicans to consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. “If you ever divide government, which happens quite frequently when the Presidency is in one party and the Senate is in another party, you will have no court, (and) it will be impossible to appoint anybody”, he said.
Miller, a Democrat in his ninth term, rejected Grassley’s argument that voters should get to weigh in on the nomination by participating in the general election this fall.
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In Des Moines, Iowa, the Ritual Cafe coffee shop was renaming menu items after owner Denise Diaz was approached by liberal groups.
