Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) said Wednesday that he would assess President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee “based on his record and qualifications.”
“The Senate’s constitutionally defined role to provide advice and consent is as important as the president’s role in proposing a nominee,” Kirk said in a statement issued shortly after Obama announced Judge Merrick Garland as his nominee.
The statement is keeping with the moderate Republican’s earlier remarks that he would be willing to meet with the nominee, a marked departure from Senate Republicans’ hard line on blocking an Obama nominee to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia.
