Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders praised the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court on Wednesday as they defended the president’s right to nominate a justice in his final year in office.
“Evaluating and confirming a justice to sit on this nation’s highest court should not be an exercise in political brinkmanship and partisan posturing. It is a serious obligation, performed on behalf of the American people, to ensure a highly qualified candidate fills a vacancy on the Court,” Clinton said on Wednesday. “That obligation does not depend on the party affiliation of a sitting president, nor does the Constitution make an exception to that duty in an election year.”
Obama’s right to appoint a Supreme Court justice following Antonin Scalia’s death has become a rallying cry for Democratic primary candidates as GOP candidates argue that the Senate should not confirm anyone until the next president assumes office.
Sanders agreed with Clinton that the GOP should not block Garland’s appointment.
“My Republican colleagues have called Judge Garland a ‘consensus nominee’ and said that there is ‘no question’ he could be confirmed,” Sanders said. “Refusing to hold hearings on the president’s nominee would be unprecedented. President Obama has done his job. It’s time for Republicans to do theirs.”
The Vermont senator went on to call on Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley to hold confirmation hearings immediately and for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the nomination to floor of the Senate if Garland is approved in committee.
