SCOTUS, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court

Chair Of Senate Judiciary Committee Defends Decision Not To Confirm Judge Merrick Garland

Senator Chuck Grassley says the "sky won't fall with one less justice."

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Stop making this poor judge sad. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

Please stop making this poor puppy-dog judge sad. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

Six. Seven. Nine. Ten. Seven. Nine.

These numbers reveal the absurdity of the argument that somehow the federal judiciary is debilitated without a ninth Supreme Court justice for a brief period of time. As the numbers make clear, the size of the court as Congress designed it over the years has frequently changed, and hasn’t left the court in disarray….

The Senate’s power to withhold consent is as much a part of the Constitution as the president’s power to nominate. It’s also not unlike the president’s power to veto a bill Congress presents him, as the president has done nine times, or the many veto threats he’s made on measures that Congress hasn’t even passed. The Senate’s decision regarding the court vacancy is constitutional. It will help safeguard the integrity of the court. It’s common sense. And, it’s entirely American.

— Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, defending the Senate’s refusal to take action on the Supreme Court’s vacancy prior to the next president being sworn in to office, in an op-ed published by the Des Moines Register. Although Grassley met with Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit this morning, “nothing has changed” — Grassley remains firm in his position that he won’t be scheduling a confirmation hearing.

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