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Obama called McConnell today to discuss the Garland nomination and the pair spoke, NBC News reports. And apparently did not budge in their stances of total opposition on the Supreme Court nominee question.
“This is the greatest honor of my life,” other than his wife agreeing to marry him, Garland says. And the greatest gift, apart from the birth of our daughters, he says.
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He’s choking up. Touching start.
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He talks about his parents leaving Europe, “fleeing anti-Semitism” to land in Chicago. He tells his father and mother’s story, his father instilling the importance of hard work and fairness, and his mother’s volunteer work teaching him the importance of service to the community.
Ryan 'will not accept a nomination'
He says his mother “is watching him on television and crying her eyes out.” He says he wishes his father could “see this day.”
Paul Ryan has just taken 50% of the fun out of talk of a brokered national Republican convention by saying through a spokesperson that he’s not into the idea of swooping in as a last-minute presidential nominee.
He says his older daughter is hiking out of cell service range, and chuckles.
“The speaker is grateful for the support, but he is not interested. He will not accept a nomination and believes our nominee should be someone who ran this year,” Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said.
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“He is the right man for the job. He deserves to be confirmed. I could not be prouder of the work he has already done on behalf of the American people. He deserves our thanks.” – Obama
Florida governor endorses Trump
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Now here’s a profile in courage: Florida governor Rick Scott has endorsed Donald Trump for president, a day after Trump beat home-state senator Marco Rubio by 19 points.
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“With his victories yesterday, I believe it is now time for Republicans to accept and respect the will of the voters and coalesce behind Donald Trump,” a Scott statement says.
Obama: 'I simply ask Republicans to give him a fair hearing'
“The voters are speaking clearly – they want a businessman outsider who will dramatically shake up the status quo in Washington.”
“I said I would take this process seriously, and I did. I chose a serious man and an exemplary judge, Merrick Garland,” Obama says.
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He says in all his conversations with lawmakers, “The one name that has come up repeatedly from Republicans and Democrats alike is Merrick Garland.”
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“I recognize that we have entered the political season... a political season that is even noisier and more volatile than usual.
Senator Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, says he would be glad to consider the Garland nomination... next year:
“I also know because of Justice Scalia’s outsized role on the court and American law... it is tempting to make this confirmation process simply an extension of our divided politics...
Should Merrick Garland be nominated again by the next president, I would be happy to carefully consider his nomination... #SCOTUS
“But to go down that path would be wrong. It would be a betrayal of our best traditions. And a betrayal of... our founding doctrines.
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“This is precisely the time when we should play it straight.
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“The Supreme Court is unique. It’s supposed to be above politics. It has to be, and it should stay that way...
McConnell: senate will not consider Garland nomination
“I simply ask Republicans in the senate to give him a fair hearing, and then an up-or-down vote. If you don’t then it will not only be an abdication of the senate’s constitutional duty... it will mean everything is subject to the most partisan politics, everything.”
McConnell says the senate will consider the qualifications of the nominee “the next president nominates, whoever that might be.”
“The reputation of the Supreme Court will inevitably suffer. Faith in our justice system will inevitably suffer. And our democracy will ultimately suffer as well.
He tells the White House to “give the people a voice” – meaning wait a year for a new president.
“I have fulfilled my constitutional duty. Now it’s time for the Senate to do theirs. Presidents do not stop working in the final year of their terms. Neither should the senate.”
Seems GOP want to allow voters to decide supreme court nomination but not their own presidential candidate
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Updated
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at 4.01pm GMT
Obama quotes current chief Justice John Roberts, Garland’s former colleague on the DC circuit. “Any time Judge Garland disagrees, you know you’re in a difficult area,” Roberts has said.
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But Garland is not just a great legal mind, Obama says. He has “a dedication to protecting the basic rights of every American,” including “everyday Americans.”
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“To find someone who has such a long career in public service... to find someone who just about everyone respects but likes, that is rare,” Obama says.
McConnell: fight 'about a principle and not a person'
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McConnell is speaking. He’s quoting Joe Biden on the senate floor in 1992 arguing against nominating supreme court justices in the thick of a presidential race. McConnell repeatedly calls it “the Biden rule.”
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“Instead of spending more time to debate an issue where we can’t agree,” let’s work on things we can agree on, McConnell says. Like jobs.
Now Obama is quoting senior Republican senator Hatch. “In all honesty I would like to see one person come to this floor and say one reason why Merrick Garland does not deserve this position.” Hatch has since called Garland an easy consensus nominee.
Hatch is behind McConnell in the chamber.
Obama points out that Republicans voted to confirm Garland. Then he was elevated to chief judge. He’s spent 19 years on the DC circuit.
Remember this? → The #BidenRule on a #SCOTUSnominee in an election year.https://t.co/CsC8JITmPu
Obama says Garland has a “track record on building consensus as a thoughtful, fair-minded justice who follows the law.”
“President Obama and his allies may try to pretend this fight is about a person,” McConnell says. “But.. it remains about a principle and not a person.”
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McConnell accuses the White House of politicizing the process. He says what the president has done “would be unfair to any nominee” and warns of “the great costs this action could carry for our nation.”
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Obama sketches Garland’s bio. Born in Chicago. Valedictorian of public high school. Summa cum laude from Harvard and graduate of Harvard Law. He sold his comic book collection to help pay for law school.
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Yuk Yuk. “Stop. I’ve been there,” Obama says. He continues:
The Republican National Committee has send a fundraiser email asking people to contribute to “fight back” against the Garland nomination.
Garland clerked for two Eisenhower appointees, Friendly and Brennan. He entered private practice and rose to partner in four years. In 1989 he “walked away from a comfortable and lucrative law practice to return to public service.”
“Obama wants to ram a Clinton-appointed judge, Merrick Garland, down the American people’s throats,” the email says. “But our Party has launched the Supreme Court Task Force to fight back as the left attacks us for defending the American people.”
He was a prosecutor in George HW Bush’s administration. “He quickly made a name for himself going after corrupt politicians and violent criminals.” He oversaw “every aspect of the federal response to the Oklahoma City bombing.”
Clinton nominated Garland to the DC circuit in the mid-1990s. He was confirmed by a senate vote of 76-23.
“Merrick had one evening to say goodbye to his young daughters before he went to Oklahoma City, where he would remain for weeks... he led the investigation and supervised the prosecution that brought Timothy McVeigh to justice. Perhaps what was most important was the way he did it.”
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“Merrick would take no chances that someone who murdered innocent Americans would go free on a technical challenge,” Obama says. He reached out to the victims’ families.
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Garland calls it “the most important thing I have ever done in my life,” Obama says. “It’s no surprise then, that soon after his work in Oklahoma City,” Garland was nominated to the DC Circuit court.
It’s official: the White House announces a nomination sent to the Senate:
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Obama is explaining and admiring the role of the court in US civil life. “This is nota a responsibility that I take lightly,” he says. It requires that he “set aside narrow politics.”
Intermission.
“I’ve done my best to set up a rigorous comprehensive process,” Obama says. The WHite House talked with all judiciary committee members, scholars and experts.
One can dream. pic.twitter.com/hyxhcXryKW
“I’ve selected a nominee who is widely recognized not only as one of America’s sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings ... integrity, even-handedness and excellence.”
3.33pm GMT
Obama calls Garland “uniquely qualified” to join the court immediately.
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“Today I am nominating chief Judge Merrick Brian Garland to join the Supreme Court.”
Majority leader McConnell says he is headed to the Senate floor to deliver remarks on the Garland nomination.
Applause.
NOW → heading to the #Senate floor to give my full remarks on the #SCOTUSnominee. https://t.co/iUCcnCFyoB
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Here’s the president. Vice president Joe Biden and Garland are with him.
Garland skims through prosecutions from gang prosecutions to the Oklahoma City case. “We promised that we could find the perpetrators, that we would bring them to justice and that we would do that in a way that would honor the Constitution.”
Obama says few decisions are “more consequential” than nominating a court justice.
“Trust in justice... is what in large part distinguishes this country from others,” Garland says.
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He says judges must put aside personal views and preferences and “follow the law, not make it.”
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“If the senate sees fit to confirm me... I promise to continue on that course.”
At least we’re all going into this looming nomination battle with the best of intentions:
He turns to the president and says he is “grateful beyond words” for the honor.
