Obama: Merrick Garland qualified to serve on Supreme Court immediately
WASHINGTON — The battle for control of the Supreme Court now has a name: Merrick Garland.
President Obama named the federal appeals court judge to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, setting up a nearly unprecedented political fight with a Republican-controlled Senate that has vowed to block any movement on the nomination.
"I've selected a nominee who is widely recognized not only as one of America's sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence," Obama said in a Rose Garden announcement. "Today, I am nominating Chief Judge Merrick Brian Garland to join the Supreme Court."
If confirmed by the Senate, Garland would replace the conservative bulwark Antonin Scalia, tipping a delicate balance on the court that could impact decisions on abortion, the death penalty, gun control and voting rights.
At 63, he would also be the oldest nominee for associate justice since President Nixon nominated the 64-year-old Lewis Powell in 1971 — potentially giving Garland a shorter life tenure on the high court.
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"This is the greatest honor of my life, other than Lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago," Garland said.
Meet Merrick Garland, Obama's SCOTUS nominee
Garland then gave what amounted to a preview of his opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee — if he's allowed to give one.
"People must be confident that a judge's decisions are determined by the law and only the law. For a judge to be worthy of such trust, he or she must be faithful to the Constitution and to the statutes passed by the Congress," he said. "He or she must put aside his personal views or preferences and follow the law -- not make it. Fidelity to the Constitution and the law has been the cornerstone of my professional life. And is the hallmark of the kind of judge I have tried to be for the past 18 years.
The nomination faces a defiant Senate, where Republican leaders have vowed not to meet with any Obama nominee, much less hold hearings or allow a confirmation vote. They want to stall the process until after the election, in hopes that a Republican president will choose Scalia's successor.
“The next justice could fundamentally alter the direction of the Supreme Court and have a profound impact on our country, so of course the American people should have a say in the court’s direction," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor of the Senate Wednesday. "The Senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates, whoever that might be."
But Obama is hoping that opposition will crack now that there's an actual nominee. Garland is generally considered a moderate, and Obama said he was setting aside "short-term expediency and narrow politics" in order to fill the court and prevent a breakdown in the confirmation process.
Obama cited Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who voted to confirm Garland in 1997 and who called him a "consensus choice" for the court opening in 2010 that went to Elena Kagan.
"The one name that has come up repeatedly from Republicans and Democrats alike is Merrick Garland," Obama said Wednesday.
Obama said the heightened political tensions have made virtually everything in Washington difficult. Adding the Supreme Court to the nation's divisive politics, he said, "would be wrong."
If confirmed, the court would give the liberal block of the court a deciding fifth vote. Four of the court's justices were nominated by Republican presidents: Anthony Kennedy (Reagan), Clarence Thomas (George H.W. Bush), Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito (George W. Bush). President Bill Clinton nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, and Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor and Kagan.
More coverage of the Garland nomination:
How Obama picked Merrick Garland for last Supreme Court pick
First Take: Obama's Supreme Court surprise
Candidates draw battle lines over high court pick
GOP senators vow not to consider Garland to fill Supreme Court vacancy