President Obama has named Merrick Garland as his nominee to the Supreme Court in a Rose Garden announcement today. Garland currently sits on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia as it’s chief judge. He was named to the bench in 1995 by President Bill Clinton and was backed by both Democrats and Republicans when his nomination was approved. While certainly being on the liberal side of things, particularly gun control, he is not known as an ideologue and has a voting record that indicates he would find common cause with the conservatives in certain cases. However, Republican Senate leadership has continued to insist that they will not allow any nominee to be considered until after the election. But Garland is used to waiting as it took over two years for his nomination to the D.C. Circuit to be approved despite the backing of many prominent Republicans of the time. Now it is up to the Senate to carry through with their threat to not consider the nomination.
See Kathleen Hennessey & Mary Clare Jalonick, Obama to Nominate Judge Merrick Garland to Supreme Court, Associated Press, March 16, 2016.
