Republican GOP refuses to vote on nominee
While most eyes are focused on the race for the White House, there are still many issues that current U.S. President Barack Obama has left to address. One of the highest objectives on President Obama’s to-do list is nominating a new Supreme Court justice.
This is a huge moment in President Obama’s tenure, due to the fact that he is in charge of nominating someone to sit on the highest court in the United States. This decision comes after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away abruptly in early February. Former justice Scalia entered the Supreme Court in 1986 during the Reagan administration, and was known most prominently for being the originalist and textualist anchor for the conservative wing. Effectively, former justice Scalia interpreted the law and the constitution as literal and fixed. Needless to say, former justice Antonin Scalia was a huge Republican presence in the Supreme court.
[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]…explicitly stated that they will refuse to consider any nominee…[/pullquote]
On March 16, 2016 President Obama announced his long-awaited nomination for former justice Scalia’s replacement: Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Garland’s name holds weight in the American criminal justice system due to his prolific career. Judge Garland hails from Lincoln, Illinois—the same state as President Obama. He also attended Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.
Judge Garland left an illustrious partnership at a corporate law firm and began work as a federal prosecutor for the state of Washington—taking an almost 50 per cent pay cut. During his tenure as a federal prosecutor, Judge Garland became a hero when he led the investigation and capture of Timothy McVeigh—the man notoriously known as the Oklahoma City Bomber.
Judge Garland’s nomination comes at a bad time for President Obama. The president’s nominee has lead to controversy, as representatives of the Republican party have explicitly stated that they will refuse to consider any nominee that President Obama puts forward.
This unprecedented decision comes after the Republican party decided that they will wait for the next president to propose a nomination. In February, shortly after Justice Scalia’s death, CNN reported that Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell said, “I’ve said repeatedly, and I’m now confident that my conference agrees, that this decision ought to be made by the next president, whoever is elected.”
There was even more outrage as the Republican party refused to hold any meetings—private or public—with any nominees that President Obama puts forward. Even after Judge Garland was nominated, the L.A. Times reported that Senator McConnell confirmed that the Senate would not vote on Garland, even after the November election.
The decision made by Republicans is a historic one, as all Supreme Court nominees since 1955 have been permitted confirmation hearings, according to the Senate Historian’s office. Historically, the president deliberates and submits their best choice for the individual who should hold the seat of Supreme Court justice. This nominee is usually given a Senate judiciary committee hearing, where a group of Republicans and Democrats check the nominee’s credentials, background, past legal decisions, as well as other details, to see if the nominee should be permitted to be heard by the Senate.
Tradition dictates that the committee send the nominee forward to the Senate despite their being a non-unanimous decision on whether the nominee should move forward. Next, there is a debate at the Senate level, followed by a final vote where the nominee is either voted in as a Supreme Court justice or the nomination fails.
These events have called several elements of the powers of the American president into question. Many remain in disbelief that the Republican party is holding out until a new president is elected in November to hear any new nominees.
To deny holding any meetings is almost adding insult to injury. Undoubtedly, it will be an interesting final eight months of the Obama administration leading up to the next election if only to see whether Merrick Garland gets a fighting chance to sit on the United States Supreme Court.