Senate Democrats returned from a two-week recess as determined as ever to force Republicans to take up the nomination of Merrick B. Garland to the Supreme Court.
But with conservative backlash an ever-present threat, Republicans are holding firm on leaving the decision to the next president. Despite some recent wavering within their ranks, it appears nearly a certainty that they will keep Garland off the bench this year.
“Most Senate Republicans are going to wait Obama out on this one,” Republican political consultant and former top GOP Senate aide Ron Bonjean told the Washington Examiner.
Democrats caught a glimmer of hope for a Garland confirmation last month when Sen. Jerry Moran, a conservative Republican from Kansas, told a crowd at a town hall event that he wanted the Senate to hold hearings on Garland’s nomination, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, have refused to do.
“I would rather have you complaining to me that I voted wrong on nominating somebody than saying I’m not doing my job,” Moran told the crowd, according to the Garden City Telegram. “I can’t imagine the president has or will nominate somebody that meets my criteria, but I have my job to do. I think the process ought to go forward.”
Democrats pounced on the remarks by Moran, who is not just a rank-and-file senator but is the former head of the Senate GOP campaign arm.
Moran’s dissent from the GOP leadership followed calls for a Garland confirmation hearing by a handful of other Republican senators in recent weeks, including Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona.
Collins met with Garland last week, and said she believes a hearing and confirmation vote should take place.
Other Republicans, including Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, agreed to at least meet with Garland, but say they do not believe there should be a confirmation vote.
The Republican Senate leadership, Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid said in a University of Las Vegas Law School address, “is being challenged every day, even by Republicans.”
Senate Democrats are so convinced the GOP will cave in, they have begun a “McConnell Back Down Watch” to chronicle what they believe will be a change in course by the Republican leader.
In a recent email blast, Democrats noted that many Senate Republicans have agreed to talk privately with Garland in their Capitol offices.
“Once the cracks begin, they are hard to contain,” Reid spokeswoman Kristen Orthman said.
It may be Democratic wishful thinking, however.
Moran, who is running for re-election, quickly backed down from his town hall remarks after fielding heavy criticism from conservatives. He said through an aide that he had studied Garland’s record and did not need a hearing to know he wouldn’t vote to confirm him.
“As Sen. Moran has said, he is opposed to President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee,” a Moran aide told the Examiner. “He has examined Judge Garland’s record and didn’t need hearings to conclude that the nominee’s judicial philosophy, disregard for Second Amendment rights and sympathy for federal government bureaucracy make Garland unacceptable to serve on the Supreme Court.
“Sen. Moran remains committed to preventing this president from putting another justice on the highest court in the land.”
Aides to other GOP senators who plan to meet with Garland said the meetings are not a sign they want a Senate confirmation vote, but rather a courtesy to the nominee.
“It doesn’t signal support for Garland,” one Republican aide told the Examiner.
Boozman, who is running for a second Senate term, said he met with Garland last week at the request of the White House and told the nominee he does not believe there should be a confirmation hearing or vote.
“During our meeting, I conveyed to Judge Garland my position, which is that the next president should fill the vacancy,” Boozman said.
Republicans know they would face stiff backlash from their conservative base if they relent on Garland.
Conservative groups and think tanks, fearful of a cave-in, are making threats to challenge incumbent Republicans.
“By foolishly agreeing to meet with Obama’s nominee, Republicans are playing with fire, and they can’t blame the conservative grassroots when they get burned,” Adam Brandon, CEO of FreedomWorks, said in a statement warning that “meetings lead to hearings.”
Democrats have continued a steady drumbeat of criticism over Garland’s stalled nomination, taunting the GOP over the planned Garland meetings with some of their own Republican lawmakers.
“If you can meet with a Supreme Court nominee, surely you should be able to give him a hearing, too. Right?” Senate Democrats tweeted this week. In another tweet, they included McConnell’s phone number, telling followers to “demand a vote” on Garland.
Their efforts probably won’t lead to Senate consideration of Garland’s nomination, say Republicans strategists, who point out that voters are focused on the economy and national security, not the high court.
“It isn’t an issue that most voters care about, and many agree with the Republican argument of letting the next president decide,” Bonjean said.
