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President Obama to Local News Reporters: Give Supreme Court Nominee Judge Garland a Vote

May 3, 2016 at 6:10 PM ET by Tanya Somanader
Summary: 
President Obama speaks with reporters from around the country about the stalled Supreme Court nomination process for Chief Judge Merrick Garland.

Since 1975, the average time it has taken the Senate to confirm a Supreme Court nominee is 67 days. It has been 48 days since the President nominated Chief Judge Merrick Garland, and Senate Republicans have refused to even hold a hearing to review Judge Garland's credentials to serve on the High Court.

By this time in their confirmation processes, both Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy had already had their hearings. The Senate GOP's refusal to do the job the Constitution has outlined for them is unprecedented and damaging to the function of our Judicial branch.  

This week, President Obama sat down with local news reporters from around the country to discuss the unprecedented nature of political obstruction in the Supreme Court nomination process.   

Here are a few highlights: 

NEW HAMPSHIRE

"Nobody’s disputing that he’s imminently qualified, maybe the most qualified nominee that we’ve seen before the Senate for a Supreme Court seat” — President Obama

 

Watch WMUR's Josh McElveen as he interviews President Obama. 

MISSOURI

"This is somebody who has been on the federal bench longer than many of the current members of the Supreme Court and they all have high regard for him. This is somebody who not just Democrats, but Republicans in the past have said is extraordinarily smart, has great integrity, treats the judiciary the way it should be, not making laws but interpreting laws." — President Obama
 

FOX 4’s Phil Witt interviews President Obama here. 

WISCONSIN

"What we’re seeing is unprecedented, which is the notion that you wouldn’t meet with or provide a hearing or vote for a nominee that everybody agrees is imminently qualified.” — President Obama

 

Watch WISN 12 NEWS' Kathy Mykleby interview President Obama. 

IOWA

"The fact that in the past you had Republican chairmans of the Judiciary Committee praise him and say there’s no way that you could say he isn’t qualified just underscored what an outstanding candidate he is." —President Obama

 

KCCI's Anchor Steve Karlin's interviews President Obama here. 

You can learn more about Judge Merrick Garland here. 

 

Tanya Somanader

Director of Digital Rapid Response for the Office of Digital Strategy