GOP Senator: If We Block SCOTUS Noms ‘Sight Unseen,’ We’re ‘Obstructionists’

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), speaking on a radio show Tuesday morning, cautioned against objecting to a Supreme Court nominee put forward by President Obama “sight unseen,” ThinkProgress reported.

“I think we fall into the trap if just simply say sight unseen, we fall into the trap of being obstructionists,” Tillis told The Tyler Cralle Show. The comment was at odds with statements made by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other GOP leaders soon after Justice Antonin Scalia’s surprise death that a successor shouldn’t be considered until after a new president is inaugurated because it is an election year.

Nevertheless, Tillis put a high bar on what kind of nominee the party should be willing to consider, saying a nominee with an “identical resume and capabilities of Justice Scalia” would be worth a vote.

“We’ll have to see who he nominates, we’ll have to see if it is someone who is going to continue to uphold or support a lot of the actions he’s taken unilaterally,” Tillis said. “Or if this is somebody who has a body of work that we think is legitimately a good candidate for us to elect to a lifetime appointment on a co-equal branch.”

He said Republicans’ concern is that Obama would nominate someone who is “ideologically aligned” with him, and “that’s out of step with the American people.”

“If he puts forth someone that we think is in the mold of President Obama’s vision for America, then we’ll use every device available to block that nomination,” Tillis continued.