In Memo To GOP Senators, Mark Kirk Urges Them To Meet With SCOTUS Nom

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., right, meets with Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, becoming the only Republican senator to meet the emb... Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., right, meets with Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, becoming the only Republican senator to meet the embattled nominee, Tuesday, March 29, 2016, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kirk is perhaps the most endangered Senate Republican facing re-election in November and he's one of just three Senate Republicans to say the Senate Judiciary Committee should hold hearings on Garland, over the insistence of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., who has ruled it out. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS

April 6, 2016 2:18 p.m.

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After meeting with Merrick Garland, President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) distributed a memo to his fellow Senate Republicans on Wednesday, encouraging them to meet with Garland as well, according to CNN’s Manu Raju.

MARK KIRK distributed memo to his GOP colleagues at lunch today, urging them to meet w Merrick Garland and laying out issues they discussed

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 6, 2016

Kirk has bucked the party line by telling his colleagues to “man up and cast a vote” on Garland. And after the Illinois senator met with Garland last week, he said he would consider voting for Garland and chastised Republicans who have refused to meet with Obama’s nominee.

The senator’s Wednesday memo goes one step further by urging Republicans in the Senate to meet with Garland as well.

“I met with Judge Garland last week and discussed my priorities below. We had a positive conversation and I encourage you to meet with him,” Kirk wrote in the memo obtained by CNN. Kirk also described the issues he discussed in his meeting with Garland.

Here is memo from Kirk, who has been most outspoken in his caucus on Garland as he faces a tough reelect. Story TK. pic.twitter.com/yhJbD52BTk

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 6, 2016

Illinois Democrats have been pushing Kirk to call on Republican leaders in the Senate to consider Garland’s nomination. Following Kirk’s meeting with Garland, the Senate campaign for Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who is running for Kirk’s seat, said that Kirk wasn’t doing enough to advocate for hearings.

“Senator Kirk seems to expect extra credit for doing the bare minimum — in this case his job,” Duckworth’s campaign manager, Matt McGrath, said in a statement. “Instead of going through the motions, Senator Kirk should show leadership by putting pressure on McConnell and urge him to give an eminently qualified Illinois native a fair hearing followed by an up-or-down vote. If he doesn’t, Illinois families have every right to question Kirk’s sincerity and whether this is more election year posturing from a vulnerable candidate.”

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