President Obama predicted Wednesday that Senate Republicans would eventually reverse their decision not to hold hearings for his Supreme Court nominee, and said if they stick by their intention to block the unnamed nominee, they could blow up the entire Senate confirmation process for any future president.
After a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan on Wednesday, reporters asked Obama about the GOP’s decision not to hold hearings on any nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Obama pledged to wage a public-relations fight for his eventual nominee and said he remains hopeful Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will reverse course and hold hearings. The president said, however, that it’s simply too early for McConnell to agree to hold hearings, at the beginning of what is expected to be a yearlong battle over the issue.
“I don’t expect Mitch McConnell to say that today,” he said.
He also insisted Republicans do not seem fully committed to their decision to not hold hearings. “They’re pretty sheepish about it,” he said.
Obama pledged to use his bully pulpit to pressure Republicans into action, and he said he will make his case to the public so “the American people will have the ability to judge” the qualifications of the nominee.
“It will be very difficult for Mr. McConnell” to maintain a blockade if the public backs him, he said.
If Republicans stick to their plan and refuse to consider his nominee all year, he predicted that the entire Senate confirmation process for high court picks could break down for future presidents.
“Then invariably what we’re going to see is a further deterioration of [the ability of] any president to make any judicial appointments,” and that “the credibility of the court itself is diminished because it is seen as an extension of our politics,” he said.
He also brushed aside Republican efforts to use past statements by Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., calling for a block on election-year nominees to the high court. Obama insisted those comments have “no application to the actual situation we have right now” because in those instances, Democrats were speaking about a hypothetical nominee.
