U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson had what he described as a “very cordial” meeting Tuesday with President Barack Obama’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland. The questionnaire is a standard part of the vetting process for judicial nominees, and Garland’s answers detail his employment history, all of the opinions he has written for the court and his pro bono work, among other information. “I’m already seeing Democrats in red states who are nervous about Garland; they’re not going to be calmer if a new nominee is chosen who pushes more demographic buttons, or is more loud and proud and out there”. “Let the American people have a voice in the composition of the Supreme Court”, Johnson said in a statement.
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Republicans and Democrats have been at odds since Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead in his bed at the Cibolo Creek Ranch near Marfa, Texas, on the morning of February 13, 2016.
Under normal circumstances, the Senate Judiciary Committee asks a nominee to complete a questionnaire.
Chief Judge Garland submitted his Senate Judiciary Questionnaire on Tuesday. “We’ve said we want to wait for the election”, said Sen. At age 63, he will not spend decades on the Supreme Court. He has so far met with 46 senators, including 14 Republicans. Grassley says he assumes Republicans who aren’t yet supporting Trump will have an open mind and listen to what he has to say. A spokeswoman for Grassley said the questionnaire will change nothing about Garland’s stalled nomination and doubted the Iowa Republican would read it as a result.
In Florida, 54 percent of voters said the Senate should consider Garland’s nomination, while 40 percent said they should not.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of NY, who is expected to be the next Democratic leader in the Senate, was asked if Garland is not confirmed and Clinton wins the White House, should she resubmit Garland’s name in the next Congress.
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“If the question is qualifications and excellence, it is uniformly viewed by not just Democrats but also Republicans, those who have served – lawyers, judges, legal scholars, members of the current Supreme Court – that he is as good of a judge as we have in this country right now”, the President said. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president”.
