GOP refusal to Meet with Supreme Court nominee: Obama – 'they’re incoherent'

Photo: NPR/Youtube
President Barack Obama launched an offensive against Republican efforts to keep his Supreme Court Justice nominee Merrick Garland from the bench, calling their arguments incoherent and politically motivated

  'We haven't seen a substantive argument against his jurisprudence. This is just raw politics' 

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'Senate Republicans are refusing to set up confirmation hearings for Garland, and they by and large are against a vote'
'They're on their way out of town today for a two-week recess, but some have indicated a willingness to meet with Judge Merrick'
'Garland after White House says meetings are a move in the right direction, despite GOP's pledge not to put him on the bench'

President Barack Obama launched an offensive against Republican efforts to keep his Supreme Court Justice nominee Merrick Garland from the bench, calling their arguments incoherent and politics driven.

'We haven't seen a substantive argument against his jurisprudence. This is just raw politics. "We don't want somebody who's been nominated by a Democrat,' Obama said in an interview with NPR that aired this morning.

Senate Republicans are refusing to set up confirmation hearings for Garland, and they by and large are against holding a vote on his appointment. 

For many, Garland, a consensus pick, is not the problem. They say the open seat on the high court should be left vacant until after this year's presidential election is over, which would allow the American people the opportunity to have a say in the process.

Obama tore down that logic in the NPR interview and again urged them to 'be fair' in their consideration of nominee.

Photo: Getty Images
Merrick Garland, above, made the rounds on Capitol Hill yesterday in a bid to pressure Senate Republicans into giving him a formal hearing and confirmation vote

Photo: Getty Images
Garland met with two Democrats, Patrick Leahy, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate's Judiciary Committee, above, and Harry Reid, leader of the Senate Democrats

Photo: EPA
 Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, is calling on his colleagues to vote on Garland by Memorial Day

Garland made the rounds on Capitol Hill yesterday in a bid to pressure Senate Republicans into moving forward his nomination.

The appeals court judge met with two Democrats, Patrick Leahy, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate's Judiciary Committee, and Harry Reid, leader of the Senate Democrats.

The Senate has now departed for a two-week Easter recess, but nine Republicans have indicated a willingness to meet with Garland when they return next month, including Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley.

The sit-downs shouldn't be interpreted as a retreat, the Republicans say. They remain dedicated to holding up the nomination process until a new president takes office. 

Obama is equally committed blowing holes in their blockade and held a call yesterday afternoon with progressive groups to talk strategy. 

WHO IS OBAMA'S PICK?

Merrick Brian Garland, 63, is Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. President Bill Clinton nominated him to serve on that court in 1997.

Garland's career highlight before becoming a judge was serving as a top prosecutor in the Oklahoma City bombing trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, and the trial of 'Unabomber' Ted Kaczynski.

He was the government's chief lawyer during the McVeigh's case's preliminary hearings and supervised much of the wrangling over whether to seek the death penalty.

A Harvard University valedictorian and former editor of the Harvard Law Review, Garland clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan after graduating from law school. He later served as special assistant to President Jimmy Carter's last attorney general before going into private practice and becoming a partner in the law firm of Arnold & Porter.

Garland next was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1989 to 1992, and Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1993 to 1994.

The Bethesda, Maryland native was on President Barack Obama's short-list of potential Supreme Court nominees when he chose Elena Kagan to fill a vacancy in 2010. Senate Republicans at the time considered him a potential 'consensus' pick they could rally around.

Garland has been married to his wife, Lynn, since 1987. They have two daughters, Becky and Jessica, both of whom attended Yale University.

Lynn Garland's grandfather was Samuel I. Rosenman, a New York Supreme Court justice and special counsel to Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.

During FDR’s first 100 days in office, Rosenman was part of the famous 'brains trust' that developed the framework for what would become The New Deal. 

Top Democrats in the Senate - Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer and others - held a press conference outside the Supreme Court to demand a 'fair confirmation process for Garland and that Republican senators 'do their job.'

They want the Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on Garland and allow his nomination to be considered by the full Senate.

With a simple majority of senators behind him, Garland could join the court. Republicans make up 54 of 100 legislators in the upper chamber, though, and they've said since the vacancy opened up on Feb. 13 with the death of Antonin Scalia that they will not allow an appointment to go forward.

'We’re in the middle of a major toxic presidential campaign and I don’t want to see the Supreme Court dragged through the mud,' Orrin Hatch, the body's longest serving lawmaker, said Wednesday.

Hatch said in a Fox News appearance, 'I happen to like Judge Garland. I think he’s a good person. But frankly that’s not the issue. It’s not about the person; it’s the system.' 

A spokeswoman for Grassley on the Judiciary Committee said the Republican senator spoke to Garland on the phone Wednesday and reiterated the majority party's position.

Grassley told Garland an in-person meeting wouldn't change his mind but indicated he was open to one nonetheless. The White House said Thursday that Grassley's staff also agreed to a meeting on behalf of the senator

At least eight other Republicans have said they'd meet with him, too, according to The Hill.

Among them are Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Mark Kirk if Illinois, both of whom are fighting for their political lives this year. Ohio's Rob Portman, Tennessee's Thad Cochran, Arizona's Jeff Flake, Missouri's Roy Blunt, Oklahoma's Jim Inhofe and Maine's Susan Collins have said they would, too.

'I feel I would want to explain my position to the nominee,' Ayotte said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he doesn't see the point in meeting with Garland as his nomination will never be taken up in the Senate.

Defending the decision in an op-ed published in USA Today, McConnell said, 'The American people deserve a voice in such a momentous decision.'

He cited what senators are calling the 'Biden Rule' and said the nomination should be left up to the next president.

'The American people may well elect a president who decides to renominate Judge Garland. The next president may also nominate someone very different. 

'Either way, we can continue to work on legislative solutions, and the American people can continue the national conversation about the type of justice who should serve on the Supreme Court. '

Photo: APObama is equally committed blowing holes in their blockade and held a call yesterday afternoon with progressive groups to talk strategy. He's seen here on Wednesday with Vice President Biden and Garland outside the White House 

Photo: Getty Images

Obama said yesterday from the Rose Garden of the White House that Garland, 63, is his pick to replace deceased conservative justice Antonin Scalia on the court

Photo: Getty Images

Democrats and the White House want the Republican-run Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on Garland and allow his nomination to be considered by the full Senate. He's seen here yesterday with President Obama

As head of the Judiciary Committee, Joe Biden argued more than two decades ago that if a justice resigned, then-president George H.W. Bush should follow the practice of the 'majority of his predecessors' and not name a nominee until after that year's election.

And if he does, the Senate Judiciary Committee 'should seriously consider' until after the campaign season is over, Biden, then a senator from Delaware said.

'Some will criticize such a decision and say that it was nothing more than an attempt to save a seat on the court in hopes that a Democrat will be permitted to fill it, but that would not be our intention,' Biden said in the June 1992 speech. 

'It would be our pragmatic conclusion that once the political season is underway, and it is, action on a Supreme Court nomination must be put off until after the election campaign is over. That is what is fair to the nominee, and essential to the process.'

As the fight over Obama's right to nominate someone to fill Scalia's seat waged on, Biden said his remarks were being mischaracterized and he is not opposed to filling a vacancy in an election year.'

'This is not an accurate description of my views on the subject.''

His speech happened months later in the election cycle, the White House says, while Scalia died in mid-February, nearly a year before Obama's term ends.

Photo: Getty ImagesTop Democrats in the Senate - Harry Reid, left, sunglasses, Chuck Schumer, podium, Elizabeth Warren, right in teal, and others - held a press conference this afternoon outside the Supreme Court to demand a 'fair confirmation process for Garland and that Republican senators 'do their job

+OPPOSING SIDES: Patrick Leahy, left, he ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee is butting heads with Chuck Grassley, right, the head of the committee. Grassley say ays no way - Garland's never getting a hearing

Senator John Barrasso said today that the GOP will not budge. 

'The decision has already been made,' Barrasso said on MSNBC.

Like Hatch, Barrasso argued that 'it's really not about the person, it's about the principle.'

Nine Senate seats turned over in 2014 from Democrat to Republican, he said. The country is moving in a different direction than it was when Obama was reelected in 2012.

The president can nominate whomever he wants, the Senate gets to decide, he said.

'And it's been decided,; he said. 'A lame duck president shouldn't be making a lifetime appointment.' 

Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, is calling on his colleagues to vote on Garland by Memorial Day. 

'For more than 40 years, the Senate has held a confirmation vote on Supreme Court nominees on average 70 days after their formal nomination,' he said in a statement. 'The Senate should afford Chief Judge Garland the same process with a fair and public hearing in April, and the full Senate should vote on his confirmation by May 25.'

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough argued on the Today show this morning that 'you cannot find a bad word said about Merrick Garland.'

The president did his job, 'we expect the Senate to now do its job,' he said. 

'This is not rocket science here..all they need to do is do what the Constitution says, give him a hearing, give him a vote and let's fill that vacancy,' McDonough said.

Republicans hope they'll win November's election and earn the opportunity next year to replace Scalia with another conservative.

As CNN's Jake Tapper pointed out to Hatch yesterday, Hillary Clinton could win the general election, and Republicans may end up with a less favorable nominee than Garland, who is considered moderate by most standards. 

'That’s the risk you take,' Hatch told him. 'On the other hand, do we want the process to be right, sophisticated, and good with a minimum amount of politics involved? Or do we want to just throw it into this cauldron of the presidential election?'

Of course, a Republican could win as well, and the party's leading candidates were chomping at the bit yesterday to have the decision delayed until after November's presidential election. 

'I think the next president should make the pick, and I think they shouldn’t go forward, and I believe I’m pretty much in line with what the Republicans are saying,' Donald Trump said Wednesday morning before Obama's announcement.

Photo: Reuters

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, left, talks with Senator Dianne Feinstein, right, after Obama's Rose Garden announcement. This morning McDonough said, 'We expect the Senate to now do his job'

Photo: White HouseFAMILY MAN: Garland , 63, is seen here with is wife Lynn, far right, and daughters Becca, left, and Jessica, center, in this undated handout from the White House

Cruz said in a statement afterward, 'Make no mistake, if Garland were confirmed, he would side predictably with President Obama on critical issues such as undermining the Second Amendment, legalizing partial-birth abortion, and propping up overreaching bureaucratic agencies like the EPA and the IRS.'

Long-shot candidate John Kasich said his opposition to the appointment was based on Obama's polarizing behavior. 'I didn’t think the president should send anybody up now, because it’s not going to happen,' he said yesterday at a town hall, according to the New York Times.

Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton backed up Obama.

Sanders said the judge is a 'strong' nominee. 

'Refusing to hold hearings on the president’s nominee would be unprecedented. President Obama has done his job. It’s time for Republicans to do theirs,' the Vermont senator said.

Clinton noted that Garland has 'considerable experience on the bench and in public service, a brilliant legal mind, and a long history of bipartisan support and admiration.

'Evaluating and confirming a Justice to sit on this nation's highest court should not be an exercise in political brinkmanship and partisan posturing,' she said. 

Clinton said it's a 'serious obligation' that 'does not depend on the party affiliation of a sitting president, nor does the Constitution make an exception to that duty in an election year.'




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Courtesy: dailymail

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