Thursday, the White House announced President Obama would be meeting with Senate leaders and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss a replacement for Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.
A short time later, one of the potential nominees, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a moderate Republican and a former federal judge, said he would not accept an offer to replace Scalia. And Friday morning, Senate Republicans piled on higher.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) issued the following statement:
“On Tuesday we will meet with the President at the White House. We look forward to reiterating to him directly that the American people will be heard and the next Supreme Court justice will be determined once the elections are complete and the next President has been sworn into office. And we welcome the opportunity to further discuss matters of mutual interest, like the drug epidemic that’s tearing communities apart across our country.”
The Republicans on the committee had previously sent a letter to McConnell explaining their reasons for not holding hearings for any potential Obama nominee. And Grassley, who is up for re-election in 2016, has spoken twice from the floor of the Senate to spell out why such hearings would break with longstanding Senate tradition.
The White House has not yet responded to the latest comments.
