Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama says he still hopes “cooler heads will prevail” and Senate Republicans will allow his eventual Supreme Court nominee to move forward.
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Republicans stood firm in opposition to an election-year confirmation of the president’s pick, arguing that American voters should have a say in November and citing decades of precedence.
Republicans in the Senate, which must approve any nomination, say it should be left to the next president to choose the new justice, while Obama says it is his constitutional duty to act now.
The Senate judiciary committee chairman on Thursday reaffirmed his pledge not to consider an Obama nomination for the open seat on the supreme court, adding calls for a hearing were “a charade” and “absurd”. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has delivered daily speeches on the Senate floor against Grassley, sometimes attacking him personally.
Srinivasan and Garland are considered the leading contenders, said the source and two other sources close to the process.
Denis McDonough, Obama’s chief of staff, and other presidential aides met with Judiciary Committee Democrats at the White House on the nomination.
There’s also been speculation that President Barack Obama will nominate 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jane L. Kelly, a former Iowa public defender confirmed in 2013 with Grassley’s support.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, shot back: “To say if we make a mistake today, we’ll make it again in the future doesn’t give me any comfort at all”.
Obama said he wants an “outstanding jurist” with “impeccable legal credentials, who, by historical standards, would not even be questioned as qualified for the court”.
All Democrats need to do is air Republicans speaking, because they are that ridiculous at this point.
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said that if the roles were reversed, with an outgoing Republican president and a sitting Democratic-controlled Congress, she would feel “honor-bound” to consider a nominee, while Senator Lindsey Graham of SC came to the opposite conclusion.
“In case there is any confusion over whether this obvious political ploy would work, let me be crystal clear: It won’t”, he said.
Johnson did later add that he believes the Senate should not confirm a candidate, regardless of party, until after the next presidential election.
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Democrats criticized the comments as proof that Republicans are obstructing the president for purely partisan reasons.
