Nearly two-thirds of the public says the Senate should have confirmation hearings for President Obama’s Supreme Court vacancy nomination, according to a new poll.
However, people also admitted that they are not necessarily closely following the news of the vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, a new Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday found.
Sixty-four percent of those asked say the Senate should hold hearings and vote on Judge Merrick Garland, and just 32 percent said the Senate should refuse to hold hearings until the next president is elected and can make the nomination.
However, just 22 percent said they’ve been following the battle over the vacancy extremely or very closely, compared to 31 percent who said somewhat closely. A whopping 44 percent said they are following it not too closely or not closely at all, which could make it harder for Democrats to sway public opinion on the issue.
The partisan split over the issue in Congress doesn’t appear to be shared by the public. Of the 64 percent who favor a vote on Garland this year, most are Democrats, but a sizable amount, 40 percent, are Republicans.
Despite meeting with Garland on Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, stood by his assertion that hearings will not be held until after the November election.
The survey of 1,076 U.S. adults was conducted March 31-April 4 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 points.
