President Barack Obama named federal judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday morning, despite firm pushback from a Republican-controlled Senate that they will not confirm a nominee.
Speaking at a news conference in the the White House Rose Garden, Obama called Garland a jurist who possesses “decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence.” Garland would replace longtime conservative justice Antonin Scalia, who died unexpectedly last month.
The president also praised Garland, the chief justice of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, as a moderate who has earned the respect of members of both parties.
“His long commitment to public service have earned him the respect and admiration of leaders from both sides of the aisle,” Obama said. “He will ultimately bring that same character to bear on the Supreme Court, an institution in which he is uniquely prepared to serve immediately.”
Garland has served on the federal appeals court for almost 20 years and previously served as a federal prosecutor, handling such high profile cases as the Oklahoma City Bombing and the Unabomber. He was appointed to his current position by former President Bill Clinton in 1997 and confirmed by the Senate with a 76-23 vote.
Seven Republican senators voted for Garland, a fact that will routinely be cited by proponents of the nomination as the current Republican majority has said they will not confirm Obama’s nominee. They instead want to wait until after a new president is elected in the fall, saying that the American people deserve to take the open seat into account when casting their ballots.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., maintained this position in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, saying Republicans want to “give the people a voice in the filling of this vacancy.”
Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has also said he will not take the first step of holding a hearing on Garland.
“A lifetime appointment that could dramatically impact individual freedoms and change the direction of the court for at least a generation is too important to get bogged down in politics,” Grassley said in a statement Wednesday.
