White House Hits Trump’s SCOTUS Picks: Not One Is A ‘Consensus Nominee’

White House press secretary Josh Earnest speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Earnest discussed prisoners who had their sentences commuted by President Ba... White House press secretary Josh Earnest speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Earnest discussed prisoners who had their sentences commuted by President Barack Obama, and other topics. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) MORE LESS

The White House on Wednesday criticized Donald Trump’s newly-released list of potential Supreme Court nominees, saying none of the names included were “consensus” choices.

“I would be surprised if there are any Democrats who would describe any of the 11 individuals as a consensus nominee,” Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in his daily media briefing. “The individual that President Obama has put forward is someone that Republicans have described as a consensus nominee.”

Earnest urged the Senate to move forward with the vetting process for Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, who has earned bipartisan praise.

Drawing a contrast with Trump, Earnest said Obama’s choice of Garland, a moderate, “speaks to the President’s commitment to fulfilling his constitutional responsibilities to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court in a way that is consistent with his desire to protect the Supreme Court from the kind of partisan wars that it’s been subjected to of late.”

Trump’s list, released to reassure Republicans who were concerned about his right-wing bonafides, featured some of the most prominent names in conservative law.

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  1. The White House needs to give McConnell two weeks to hold hearings before it withdraws Garland to nominate someone younger and more liberal. With that, the President should say that with each successive month that the vacancy isn’t filled, the administration will nominate a younger and successively more liberal judge to the vacancy until one is confirmed.

  2. This is where we act surprised?

  3. GOP: That is what makes Trump a perfect conservative. We want an extreme conservative in SCOTUS. A moderate liberal appointee will just not cut it.

  4. Scalia is dead; deal with it.

  5. the White House also expressed disappointment that Judge Judy and Judge Crater (look it up if you don’t get it) were left off the list…

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