SCOTUS Brief 5/19/2016
NYT/CBS Poll: Support for Garland drops 5 points to 48 percent – Washington Examiner: Lead Garland critic praises Trump’s Supreme Court list – Politico: Democrats running out of options in Garland fight
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- Megan Thee-Brenan points out the latest New York Times/CBS Poll shows “decreased support” for President Obama’s liberal Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.
New York Times: New Poll Shows Declining Support for Merrick Garland
“The poll also found decreased support for a vote on Judge Merrick B. Garland, whom Mr. Obama has nominated to fill the Supreme Court seat of Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February. In March, 53 percent of Americans said the Senate should hold a vote on whether to confirm Judge Garland, who is the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, rather than wait until next year when a new president could nominate someone. In the latest poll, 48 percent of the public supported action now, while 45 percent said the Senate should wait. In the last two months, Donald J. Trump has emerged as the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, and the number of Republicans supporting a vote on Judge Garland has fallen 10 points.”
- The Washington Examiner’s Joel Gehrke writes that lead Merrick Garland critic and Judicial Crisis Network Chief Counsel Carrie Severino find’s Donald Trump’s Supreme Court list “encouraging to anyone who prioritizes the rule of law.”
Washington Examiner: Lead Garland critic praises Trump’s Supreme Court list
“Donald Trump’s list of prospective Supreme Court nominees won praise from the lead opponent of Judge Merrick Garland’s confirmation to the high court. ‘This list ought to be encouraging to anyone who prioritizes the rule of law, and I congratulate Mr. Trump on making a very significant policy statement about his desire to prioritize the future of the Supreme Court,’ said Carrie Severino of the Judicial Crisis Network, a former clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas. Severino has served as the vanguard for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Republicans who have decided that the next president should replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. She regards Garland as a reliable voter for liberal causes and a particular threat to gun rights and pro-life legislation.”
- Politico’s Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett write that Democrats are failing in their efforts to confirm Merrick Garland to cement a liberal majority on the Supreme Court and are running out of options.
Politico: Democrats running out of options in Garland fight
“Merrick Garland’s highly anticipated Supreme Court nominee questionnaire — unsolicited by Republicans — came and went last week without making a major splash. Millions of dollars have been spent on ads, with little movement on either side. Now, Senate Democrats will hold a forum Wednesday, featuring proxies for Garland, but that may be the closest the chamber gets to a confirmation hearing for him before November. Meanwhile, the White House has run through essentially all of the Republicans who have been willing to sit down for a courtesy meeting with Garland. None has backed away from the blockade. And in some cases, those meetings have even reinforced Republican opposition against Garland, the respected chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals…For two months, Senate Republicans have successfully maintained their obstruction of Garland’s nomination, despite public sentiment to the contrary and a national campaign, waged in part by former Obama White House aides, to pressure vulnerable GOP senators to confirm the veteran jurist.”
