Summary: Despite repeated warnings that the Senate will not consider any nomination for the Supreme Court by Obama, he decided to announce his pick for the vacant spot.
President Barack Obama has made his Supreme Court nomination. Wednesday morning Obama selected Merrick Garland despite claims from Republicans to block any candidate Obama threw out there as a possible replacement for the seat former Justice Antonin Scalia left open.
Garland is considered a moderate that is highly respected in the Washington D.C. legal community. He has been a Washington lawyer for many years and is the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Garland was finalist for the first two Supreme Court vacancies that Obama filed earlier in his presidency.
Read Obama Supreme Court Pick Coming By May 26 for more information.
Obama described Garland during his White House Rosa Garden announcement as, “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 states that he reached out to multiple outlets including legal associations, advocacy groups, and both political parties to make his decision. He continued to praise Garland’s accomplishments by stating, “I chose a serious man and an exemplary judge. To find someone with such a long career in public service, marked by complex and sensitive issues, to find someone who just about everyone not only respects but genuinely likes, that is rare. And it speaks to who Merrick Garland is, not just as lawyer but as a man.”
Garland noted the moment was “the greatest honor in my life other than Lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reconfirmed that the GOP-controlled Senate will block any Obama nominated candidate. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan supported this stand, “We should let the American people decide the direction of the court.” If the Senate does vote down the nomination, leaving the next president to fill the spot, that president can reuse the nomination of Garland or select their own option.
Garland graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He then worked to become a partner at Arnold & Porter before joining the Justice Department.
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