Pat Toomey is staying the course on obstructing President Obama’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Despite describing Merrick Garland as “a pleasant man with impressive legal training and experience,” Toomey is still refusing to do his job and hold hearings to consider Garland’s nomination. Toomey’s cynical non-consideration of Garland is drawing the ire of Pennsylvanians. Here are the latest headlines:
Mr. Toomey declared after his meeting with Judge Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia District, that he now opposes him on the merits. Judge Garland, the senator said, would not ‘be aggressive in acting as a check on an administration.’ He and his obstructionist colleagues hope that the appointment ultimately will be made by a Republican president to prevent a majority of Democratic appointees to the court. They couch that blatantly political objective in grand terms, saying that the voters in the impending presidential election should have a say in selecting the next justice. But voters already had a say in selecting President Obama, twice, and there is nothing in the Constitution that authorizes Mr. Toomey and his cohorts to invalidate the last year of a presidential term.
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Because Mr. Toomey also is up for election, it is crucial that he endorse a fair confirmation process for Judge Garland. His opposition to the nomination best would be expressed in a formal vote — for which voters could hold him accountable — rather than in blatant obstruction and his impression from a brief meeting with the nominee.
“THUMB DOWN to U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., for his thin veil of accommodation in ‘meeting’ with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland on Tuesday. Toomey won’t stand up for the Constitution by acting, though, to fill the glaring vacancy left by the February death of Justice Antonin Scalia. He’d rather support the Republican line of obstruct and delay, leaving the American people without a full complement on this vital court for at least nine months — just because their politics won’t let them entertain anyone, however qualified, who is nominated by President Barack Obama.
Published: Apr 18, 2016