Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Thursday that the Republicans are now undercutting their own argument for blocking President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
During a press conference with Senate Democrats in front of the Supreme Court, Schumer said the suggestion made by some GOP senators that they could confirm Merrick Garland during the lame duck period after the November election “just undercuts everything they’re saying.” He said that they’ve been pushing to wait until after the 2016 election, “but in this case they’ll make an exception,” he noted.
“We’re beginning to see the cracks in their arguments,” Schumer said. “They’re feeling the heat, and we believe we’ll see many more cracks over the next two weeks.”
Both Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) have signaled that they would be open to confirming Garland after the November election if a Democrat wins the presidential race.
When asked about the potential for Senate Republicans to consider Garland during Obama’s lame duck session if a Democrat wins the White House, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid brushed off the possibility.
“We’re not going to let them off on saying they might do it in the lame duck session,” Reid said. “That’s not good enough. They should be doing it now.”
Schumer also noted that some Republican senators have said they would be willing to meet with Garland.
“We are seeing cracks on the Republican side,” he said.
