Senate Democrats on Tuesday played up Judge Merrick Garland’s role prosecuting the Oklahoma City bomber in a bid to pressure Republicans to take up his Supreme Court nomination on the 21st anniversary of the bombing that killed 168 people.
Garland led the prosecution against Timothy McVeigh, who was found guilty and put to death.
On the day of the bombing, Garland, who was working in the deputy attorney general’s office in Washington D.C., “told his superiors, I have to go there,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters.
“That’s the kind of man Merrick Garland is,” Reid said. “A deep sense of duty to this country and of course, the Constitution. That is why it is so disappointing that Republicans are denying this good man a hearing.”
Republicans, who are in the majority in the Senate, have not budged from their refusal to take up Garland’s nomination this year. GOP members say they believe the nominee should be chosen by the winner of the presidential election in November, not Obama.
One Republican accused Democrats of using the bombing for political purposes.
“Shocked that Members of the Senate chose to use today for political gain,” Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., said on Twitter. ” 4/19 is for remembrance, not for political games.” Lankford plans to meet with Garland next week but like other Republicans, he does not support a hearing or a vote on the nomination.
But Democrats say they are determined to force the GOP to change course and hold a confirmation hearing on Garland, as well as a vote. Despite the GOP’s refusal to consider Garland, Democrats said their arguments are not getting stale.
“We didn’t talk about Oklahoma City until today,” Sen. Charles Schumer, the No. 3 Democrat, told reporters. Schumer, of New York, said polls indicate Democrats are winning over public opinion.
“It started out about even. Now the public is on our side by 25 points,” Schumer said. “Pressure is going to mount. We never said this would happen in a day or a week. It’s going to take a while. But Republican senators are feeling the heat.”
Polls have been split.
Two recent surveys, by Bloomberg and Quinnipiac University, each found 62 percent in favor of the Senate moving forward on Garland’s nomination.
A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found just 52 percent wanted the Senate to take up Garland’s nomination.
