Rep. Daniel Donovan (R-NY) said on Monday that Senate Republicans should not have rejected President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee outright without waiting to see who the President put forward.
“I’ve never thought that was a good idea. I’ve always thought that the Republicans were wrong, that they should see who the nominee was—actually, the president nominated Judge Garland—and judge him on his abilities, his jurisprudence,” Donovan told reporters at an event in Long Island, according to the Observer. “I think it’s one of the things that gets the public upset about politics, that they see things not moving.”
Donovan said that Republican don’t necessarily need to confirm Merrick Garland.
“But they should hold the hearings and judge this person who’s the nominee on their credentials,” he said. “We’d be able to judge the man better if he was able to respond to some of the questions people have.”
The congressman argued that Republicans obstruction of Merrick Garland will not play well with voters.
“I think this is an issue that people could point at and say ‘see, government’s stalled, government doesn’t move forward,'” he said, according to the Observer. “There’s a very important seat open in the Supreme Court, the people that interpret the rules of the country we live by. And it’s unfair to the public.”
Donovan joins a handful of Republicans, like Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), who have criticized Senate Republican leaders for refusing to consider Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
H/t Huffington Post
