Obama to nominate Merrick Garland to Supreme Court

The name of Obama’s sacrificial lamb has finally been released.

 

Speaker of the House Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) says it isn’t going to happen.

 

Can we believe him?

Should we believe him?

I’m not inclined to believe him, how about you?

 

It is certainly within his right, some would say his obligation to do so.

If Garland is such an outstanding selection, why did Obama, who was high on Garland as a top contender for the last Supreme Court opening in 2010, ultimately fill  the seat with his then-solicitor general, Elena Kagan?

Perhaps a truer test than who is nominated for president by the Republicans is if they will stick together and block this obvious leftward tilting judges nomination during the Senate Confirmation Hearings.

 

If the best we have on our side is Kentucky (RINO) Senator, how can we possibly be hopeful?

THE HILLBy Jordan Fabian March 16, 2016

Obama will nominate Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to the Supreme Court, a White House official confirmed to The Hill Wednesday morning.

He is expected to formally announce the nomination at 11 a.m. at the White House.

“Merrick Garland … has more federal judicial experience than any other Supreme Court nominee in history,” the official said.

“No one is better suited to immediately serve on the Supreme Court.” (REALLY?)

The selection of Garland fulfills Obama’s goal of putting forth a nominee who has support from both Republicans and Democrats.

Regardless, the nomination is sure to trigger a partisan battle in the Senate, where GOP leaders have pledged to block any Obama nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

News of Garland’s selection leaked out after Obama held a conference call with Democrats on the Judiciary Committee.

Obama called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday morning.

The GOP leader reiterated his position that the Senate will not hold hearings or votes on the nominee.

“We think the people should choose, as we’ve said repeatedly,” McConnell told reporters after the call.

Republicans argue an Obama pick would undoubtedly shift the balance of the court to the left and want the next president to decide Scalia’s successor.

But in Garland, Obama is putting forth a candidate he believes is deserving of GOP support.

The 63-year-old judge has built a reputation as a moderate who is well-liked by Republicans.

His professional resume is similar to many justices already on the high court. 

The judge has proven to be confirmable in a Republican-controlled Senate.

The upper chamber in 1997 voted 76-23 to confirm him.

Thirty-two Republicans joined the majority, seven of whom are still in office.

The D.C. Circuit has long been considered a stepping-stone to the high court.

Three current justices — as well as Scalia — served there previously.

 Entire article below.

 

 

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said at the time he would help Garland get confirmed if he was nominated.

“I have no doubts that Garland would get a lot of [Senate] votes,” Hatch, a former chairman of the panel, told Reuters. “And I will do my best to help him get them.”

Hatch on Sunday called Garland a “fine man” and suggested Obama should nominate him.

“[Obama] could easily name Merrick Garland, who is a fine man,” the senator told the conservative news site Newsmax.

“He probably won’t do that because this appointment is about the election,” he added. “So I’m pretty sure he’ll name someone the [liberal Democratic base] wants.”

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said he had initially heard Obama would select someone else but added his union will support Garland.

“He’s a great judge. I had not heard Merrick is going to be appointed,” he said. “Merrick Garland’s a great judge, and we would support him.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) cheered the choice and urged Republicans to hold hearings.

“I think it’s a choice of someone who’s had bipartisan support in the past, who has been a moderate justice. I look forward to learning more about him. I certainly hope that our colleagues on the Republican side move forward with the process the way it’s supposed to work,” she said.

Garland’s experience is appealing to members on both sides of the aisle.

He clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, who was appointed by Republican President Dwight Eisenhower but went on to lead the court’s liberal wing, and Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Henry Friendly, another Eisenhower appointee under whom Chief Justice John Roberts also clerked.

During his service as a federal prosecutor, he oversaw cases involving the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.

But a Supreme Court confirmation, of course, will be much more difficult. Hatch has joined other Republican senators in saying Obama’s nominee should not even receive a hearing before the Senate.

Despite his lengthy résumé, Garland is somewhat of a surprise pick for Obama, who has valued racial, ethnic and professional diversity in his past judicial picks.

Garland is a white male who would not add religious diversity to the bench — he is Jewish. At 63, he would be one of the oldest people ever to be confirmed to the high court. Like five other current justices, Garland graduated from Harvard.

Garland’s lengthy paper trail built up over almost two decades on the federal bench could also give Republicans ample opportunity to find objectionable views.

Alexander Bolton contributed.

The End