After meeting with President Obama’s choice to replace Antonin Scalia, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee touted the nominee as “non-controversial” and eminently capable.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said that under regular order, Merrick Garland would fly through the Supreme Court nomination process by the end of Spring. But with most Senate Republicans banding together to call for a replacement to only be considered after the November election, Leahy suggested this is highly unlikely.
“If we followed our normal routine, we could easily have the hearings, the debate, the background, and the vote by Memorial Day,” he said Thursday in a press briefing.
Currently the chief judge of the influential federal court of appeals in Washington, Garland was officially put forward on Wednesday as Scalia’s successor. Leahy was the first lawmaker to meet him since then.
The senator noted that he has no interest in going on a public relations offensive to pressure Republicans to even consider Garland. “I’m not going to do some dog and pony show in Vermont or anywhere else on this,” Leahy said. He claimed his constituents of all political persuasions want the Senate to: “Do your job. Hold your hearing. Then make up your mind. Let’s have a vote.”
According to recent polling data, the vast majority of Americans want this to happen. Registered voters want the Senate to hold hearings on a SCOTUS nomination under Obama by a 56-38 margin, Pew Research Center said in February. Those numbers were practically replicated in a Public Policy Polling survey conducted in March.
Just hours after Scalia’s death on Feb. 13, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that a nomination should wait until after the presidential election. About a week later, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and all Republican members of the panel wrote to McConnell to back the move.
A delay has also been supported by Donald Trump, the nativist businessman currently leading the Republican presidential primary. His closest challenger, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), also wants the Supreme Court vacancy to be filled by the next administration.
Some Republican senators have not taken the party’s hardline. Lawmakers who have said they would at least consider an Obama nominee include Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.). Kirk is facing a tough re-election campaign in November.
In choosing a centrist technocrat like Garland, the White House is hoping to test the limits of Republican obstructionism. The appellate judge was described by The New York Times as having “a reputation as a moderate, admired by both Democrats and Republicans.”
“He has been notably deferential to executive agencies and is seen as reluctant to second-guess experts,” the Times said.
Politico noted on Wednesday that Garland has earned the praise of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush-nominee, and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the former chair of the judiciary committee. Hatch lauded Garland “just last week,” the publication noted.
“[Obama] could easily name Merrick Garland, who is a fine man,” Hatch said. “He probably won’t do that because this appointment is about the election. So I’m pretty sure he’ll name someone the liberal Democratic base wants.”
The senator backed off this sentiment this week, however, after the White House made its move. Hatch said on Wednesday that he won’t even meet Garland, although he has “a high opinion of him.”
