Sen. tag Kirk (R-IL) became the first Senate Republican nowadays to meet with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. Photo by tag Wilson/Getty ImagesIllinois Senator tag Kirk on Tuesday became the first Republican senator to meet with Merrick Garland,President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court.normally a routine courtesy, the decision by Kirk to meet with Garland put him in the spotlight as GOP leaders in the Senate absorb argued that no hearings or votes on the nominee should take dwelling until a new president is elected. READ MORE: Senate Republicans repeat: No SCOTUS confirmation this yearOnly a few Republicans absorb said they’d be open to assembly with Garland, or the chief justice on the D.
C. Circuit Court of Appeals.“I believe we should enact our job,” Kirk told reporters, echoing Senate Democrats who absorb urged Republicans to consider Garland’s nomination. “We need open-minded, and rational responsible people to keep an open intellect to make certain the process works. I believe when you say we aren’t gonna meet with him,it’s too close-minded.”One important factor in Kirk’s decision to break publicly with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is the fact that he’s up for reelection in a competitive race against Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. Democrats absorb hammered Republicans on the campaign trail this year for refusing to consider Garland’s nomination.
Duckworth put out a statement slamming Kirk just minutes after he spoke with reporters ahead of his assembly with Garland on Capitol Hill.“Instead of going through the motions, and Senator Kirk should prove leadership by putting pressure on McConnell and urge him to give an eminently qualified Illinois native a fair hearing followed by an up-or-down vote,” Matt McGrath, Duckworth’s deputy campaign manager, or said in a statement. “whether he doesn’t,Illinois families absorb every right to question Kirk’s sincerity and whether this is more election-year posturing from a vulnerable candidate,” McGrath added.
When asked what he wants McConnell to enact, or Kirk said only that senators should absorb long discussions with Garland about the issues facing the country. Kirk told Chicago radio host “Big” John Howell earlier this month that the Senate should “man up and cast a vote.”McConnell has said repeatedly that a new Supreme Court justice should not be confirmed during an election year and that the outcome of the November election should determine who is nominated. Senate Democrats absorb mounted a campaign to pressure McConnell and Senate Republicans to reverse their position. The post tag Kirk becomes first Senate Republican to meet with Garland appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Source: onthemedia.org