Sen. Mike Lee reaffirms that the next nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court should be chosen only after a new president is elected and the American people have a voice in that choice.
“The president has full and complete power to nominate individuals to the Supreme Court, as he will reportedly do later today,” Lee said just prior to President Barack Obama’s nomination of D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland. “But the Constitution also gives the Senate the full and complete power to reject or confirm the nominee. It’s as simple as that.”
“In light of the contentious presidential election already well underway, my colleagues and I on the Judiciary Committee have already given our advice and consent on this issue: we will not have any hearings or votes on President Obama’s pick,” Lee added. “Any meeting with any nominee put forward by President Obama would only be a waste of the Senate’s time. The Court has very ably dealt with temporary absences in the past and will do so again now.”
All 11 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter last month to Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, informing him that they will not hold any hearings on Obama’s eventual nominee to take the seat on the high court left open by the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
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