Ohio, West Virginia Lawmakers Follow Parties’ Lead on President Barack Obama’s U.S. Supreme Court Nomination
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WHEELING – Area lawmakers largely mirrored their parties’ leaders Wednesday in expressing views on whether the Senate should consider President Barack Obama’s nomination of federal judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court less than eight months away from the general election.
Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, say they have a constitutional obligation to give Obama’s nominee fair consideration, while Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio believe it should be up to the next president to choose a justice who could tip the balance of power on the nation’s highest court – now, with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, evenly divided between jurists seen as liberal and conservative.
Among the four senators representing West Virginia and Ohio, only Brown offered an opinion on Garland himself, calling him “an unquestionably qualified nominee who has earned support from both Republicans and Democrats in the past.” Garland has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1997.
“Senate Republicans have said they will refuse to even meet with this president’s nominee, much less hold a hearing and an up-or-down vote. … I expect my colleagues to put politics aside, do the job we were elected to do and give Judge Garland full and fair consideration,” Brown said. “Anything less undermines our democracy.”
Manchin, meanwhile, urged West Virginians to research Garland’s qualifications for themselves and share their views with him.
“I look forward to meeting with Merrick Garland, examining his record, and determining whether his judicial philosophy is in the mainstream,” Manchin said. “This can only happen if the vetting process is allowed to proceed, which I am hopeful it will.”
Republicans, however, argue a lame-duck president shouldn’t make a decision with such far-reaching implications.
“This is about the principle, not the person. I believe that awaiting the result of a democratic election, rather than having a nomination fight in this partisan election-year environment, will give the nominee more legitimacy and better preserve the court’s credibility as an institution,” Portman said.
A spokesman in Portman’s office said while Obama has the right under the Constitution to make an appointment, the Senate also has the right to withhold its consent.
Capito, meanwhile, said waiting until a new president takes office next year gives West Virginians “the ability to weigh in at the ballot box this November.”
“Anyone confirmed to the Supreme Court will play a key role in decisions on monumental issues ranging from EPA regulations that affect West Virginia’s energy sector to immigration and Second Amendment rights,” she said. “With just a few months until the election, West Virginians should have an opportunity to express their views and elect a new president who will select the Supreme Court justice.”