WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) on Wednesday was critical of President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to be justice of the United States Supreme Court:
“By nominating a replacement for Justice Scalia, President Obama is attempting to deny the American people a voice on the next Supreme Court justice.
The next justice will have an effect on the courts for decades to come and should not be rushed through by a lame-duck president during an election year. This is not about the nominee, it is about giving the American people and the next president a role in selecting the next Supreme Court justice.”
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is calling Judge Merrick Garland a strong nominee for the Supreme Court and arguing that refusing to hold hearings for his nomination would be unprecedented.
President Barack Obama nominated Garland for the high court on Wednesday. Garland is the chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Republican-led Senate must confirm his nomination to the court.
In a statement, Sanders notes that the 63-year-old Garland has decades of experience on the bench. Sanders says Obama has done his job by nominating Garland and that Senate Republicans now must do theirs.
Sanders is calling on Republicans to hold confirmation hearings and bring the nomination to the floor of the Senate if Garland is approved by the Judiciary Committee.
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1:45 p.m.
Some advocacy groups on both sides of the political spectrum are taking issue with President Barack Obama’s nominee to serve on the Supreme Court.
The committee responsible for helping GOP candidates win their Senate races, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, describes federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland as a “liberal, an activist and one of Obama’s most reliable allies in the judicial system.”
A group that backs candidates who oppose abortion rights, the Susan B. Anthony List, says it doesn’t know Garland but knows that anyone Obama nominates will join the voting bloc on the court that consistently upholds abortion on demand.
Some groups are saying Garland isn’t liberal enough. A group started by former Gov. Howard Dean, Democracy for America, says it’s deeply disappointed that Obama didn’t add “another progressive woman of color to the court.” Instead, the group says, Obama’s pick seems designed to appease intransigent Republicans rather than inspire the grassroots.
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1:25 p.m.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich says President Barack Obama should not rush to nominate a Supreme Court justice because of the “polarization” in Congress.
Speaking to a crowd at Villanova University, the Republican presidential candidate said Wednesday that the president shouldn’t “stiff the legislative body” by rushing to a decision that isn’t in the country’s best interest.
Said Kasich: “If I think I’m gonna blow something up in the seventh year, I’m not gonna do it.”
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12:50 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland has a “brilliant legal mind and a long history of bipartisan support and admiration” and it’s up to the Senate to perform their Constitutional duty “they swore to undertake.”
Clinton says the confirmation of a justice “should not be an exercise in political brinkmanship and partisan posturing.” She says it’s a “serious obligation” that doesn’t depend “on the party affiliation of a sitting president, nor does the Constitution make an exception to that duty in an election year.”
She notes the Senate has never taken more than 125 days to vote on a Supreme Court nominee and Garland deserves a “full and fair hearing followed by a vote.”
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11:55 a.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the American people must have a voice in November on filling the Supreme Court vacancy.
In a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, the Kentucky Republican made it clear that the GOP-led Senate will not consider President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, but will wait until after the next president is in place.
McConnell said the view of the GOP is “give the people a voice in the filling of this vacancy.”
Democrats and the White House are pressuring the GOP to act. Obama, in announcing his nominee, said Garland would be making the customary visit to Capitol Hill to meet with senators on Thursday. The Senate is planning a two-week break at the end of the week.
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11:50 a.m.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley isn’t swayed by President Barack Obama’s pick for a Supreme Court nominee.
President Barack Obama nominated appeals court judge Merrick Garland to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last month. Senate Republicans have said for weeks that they won’t hold a hearing or a vote on Obama’s nominee.
In a statement issued just after Garland spoke in the White House Rose Garden, Republican Grassley said “a lifetime appointment that could dramatically impact individual freedoms and change the direction of the court for at least a generation is too important to get bogged down in politics.”
He said this year is an opportunity for the country to have an honest debate about the role of the Supreme Court.
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11:45 a.m.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid evoked Republican front-runner Donald Trump in calling on Republicans to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court.
In a statement Wednesday, Reid said Trump had called on the GOP to block the nominee. The Nevada Democrat says Republicans face a choice of “blindly taking their marching orders from Donald Trump, or doing their jobs and providing fair consideration to this highly-qualified nominee.”
Despite unified opposition to considering any nominee in an election year, Reid said he was optimistic that “cooler heads will prevail” and “sensible Republicans” will treat Garland fairly
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11:35 a.m.
Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland says fidelity to the law and the Constitution has been the cornerstone of his professional life. He’s promising to bring that same principle to the high court if confirmed.
Garland was visibly emotional as he accepted President Barack Obama’s nomination in the White House Rose Garden with his family watching. He says being nominated by President Barack Obama is the greatest honor of his life, other than marrying his wife. He says there could be no higher public service in his view.
Garland says judges must put aside their personal views and preferences, and follow the law instead of making it. He says that’s a hallmark of the judge he’s tried to be for the last 18 years.
Garland is currently the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
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11:25 a.m.
President Barack Obama says allowing the Supreme Court confirmation process to become an extension of the presidential race would be wrong. He says that would betray America’s best traditions.
Obama is urging Senate Republicans to grant hearings and a confirmation vote to Merrick Garland, Obama’s nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. He says if they don’t, it would be an abdication for the Senate’s constitutional duty and would show the nominating process is “beyond repair.”
Obama says the Supreme Court is supposed to be above politics.
The president says Garland will travel to Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet one-on-one with senators.
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