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          Democrats Keep Pressure on Garland Supreme Court Nomination

   by Michael Bowman

   Democratic senators continue to press their Republican counterparts to
   hold confirmation hearings and vote on President Barack Obama's nominee
   to the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, to fill the seat left
   vacant by the death of arch-conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.

   "It's the president's duty, obligation and job [to nominate]," said
   Senator Al Franken after meeting Wednesday with Garland at his Capitol
   Hill offices. "Our job is to advise and give our consent, or not give
   our consent. And we should be doing that. We should be doing our job."

   Garland, the chief judge of the federal appellate court in the nation's
   capital, also met with Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand.

   "He is someone who is highly qualified. And I think it is the
   obligation of the Senate to not only have a hearing, but to vote on his
   nomination," Gillibrand said.

   Breaking rank

   The meetings came one day after Senator Mark Kirk became the first
   Republican to meet with Garland. Kirk bucked Senate Majority Leader
   Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans by calling for full
   consideration of the nomination. Most Republicans are unswayed.

   ''
   "Democrats have no credibility in lecturing Republicans on how to
   conduct the current confirmation process," wrote Republican Senator
   Orrin Hatch this week in an opinion piece for The New York Times.
   "Liberal pressure tactics belie any commitment to keeping politics out
   of the confirmation process."

   "Considering a nominee in the midst of a toxic presidential election
   would be irresponsible. Doing so would only further inject a circus
   atmosphere into an already politicized confirmation process," Hatch
   added.

   Kirk and 15 other Republicans have indicated a willingness to at least
   meet with Garland. Far fewer, however, have endorsed confirmation
   hearings or a vote.

   "These [Republican] gestures of being open to meeting Garland seem
   largely to be just that - gestures," said political analyst Sarah
   Binder of the Brookings Institution. "Although we may see a few more
   cracks, my sense is that the rest of the Senate Republican conference
   is standing firm."

   "This resolute opposition to Garland reflects both majority leader
   Mitch McConnell's short term calculus about retaining his position as
   GOP leader and about bucking up the far right to turn out for
   endangered GOP senators in blue states," Binder said.

   Contentious standoff

   Even so, Democrats, who are in the minority and must rely on
   Republicans to advance a nominee, are continuing the fight, arguing
   against protracted delay in filling a Supreme Court vacancy.

   ''
   "We shouldn't go down that road," said Franken. "It's a bad precedent,
   and it's bad for the Supreme Court. And it's bad for the United
   States."

   "I think the American people are basically saying, `Give this guy a
   hearing,'" Franken noted.

   Washington insiders say the standoff is unlikely to end anytime soon.

   "Most people don't know a lot about the Supreme Court," said Republican
   strategist Ford O'Connell. "But the base of both parties do know how
   valuable this [fight] is and how important this is."
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/garland-supreme-court-nomination/3261719.html