Obama's Supreme Court nominee will have more meetings with GOP senators
WASHINGTON — It's a typical Washington news story: There was a lot of movement on President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court Tuesday — but by the end of the day, it was unclear whether any progress had been made.
Two more Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine and John Boozman of Arkansas — broke ranks and met with Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, despite a boycott by GOP leadership. Collins said she was "more convinced than ever" that Garland deserves a confirmation vote; Boozman said he still opposes a confirmation vote but met with Garland out of courtesy.
Later, the White House announced that it had scheduled additional meetings with four other Republican senators: Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Jeff Flake of Arizona. Ayotte, Portman and Murkowski face re-election in November; Flake is a member of the Judiciary Committee.
"These courtesy visits are an important step in the Senate confirmation process and represent opportunities for senators to have thoughtful, substantive conversations with Chief Judge Garland," said Deputy White House Press Secretary Eric Schultz.
His boss, Press Secretary Josh Earnest, went even further earlier in the day, saying Republicans were on a "slippery slope" toward confirmation hearings. "Once you have a private meeting, then it starts to beg questions. 'Well, why wouldn’t you have a conversation with Chief Judge Garland in public? You say that you’ve got tough questions you want to ask him, and you’re just going to ask him these questions over breakfast?'"
But Republicans say there's been no change to the party line: No confirmations until the 45th president is sworn in on January 20, 2017.
Despite pressure from interest groups, newspaper editorial boards and constituents over the Easter break, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said there remained 52 Republican senators opposed to hearings or a vote on Garland.
"I think it's safe to say that there will not be hearings or votes," he said. "I think it's also safe to say the next president, whoever that may be, is going to be the person who chooses the next Supreme Court justice."
Garland would replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February and was an influential conservative presence on the court for three decades. The confirmation of a more liberal judge could tip the balance of the court on closely contested issues like abortion, affirmative action, voting rights and gun control.
The Judicial Crisis Network, a lobbying group that has spent about $4 million in television ads against the Garland nomination, portrayed the one-on-one meetings with senators as "non-events."
"The only reason we hear anything about these courtesy meetings is that the White House is desperate to spin every act of political theater into a sign of life for the nomination," said Carrie Severino, the group's chief counsel.
On Thursday, Obama will take his case for Garland's nomination to the University of Chicago, where he will give a speech at the same law school where he taught before being elected.