Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland is caught between the bedrock of the Constitution and hard politics. His Senate confirmation hearing blocked by Republican senators who argue the next president should decide who replaces the late Justice Antonin Scalia. NJTV News Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron spoke with New Jersey’s Junior Senator, Democrat Cory Booker, about the nomination process.
Aron: Senator, why does Judge Garland deserve a hearing?
Booker: Well because it says clearly in the Constitution that two branches of government are responsible for filling vacancies in the third. That the president, Article II, Section II, shall nominate, he’s now done that, and we shall advise and consent. And so clearly there’s been a tradition since the early 1900s that every Supreme Court justice that has been put up has gotten hearings. Even ones that Democrats have railed about, they still gave them hearings. And so to not give a hearing, to not put him up for a vote, not only violates the spirit and tradition of the United States Senate but it really violates to me our constitutional duty that we’ve sworn an oath to do. We should be doing our job.
Aron: Does that principle apply at the state level in your view? Where Senate President Steve Sweeney has said to Christie that he’s not giving a hearing to his nominee to the state Supreme Court?
Booker: I don’t know the state traditions and the like, but I’m a big believer if the situation was reversed, and there was a Republican president in the last year on the federal level, I would be calling — just like some Republican senators have. I just listened to Sen. Collins from Maine saying we should be giving this person a hearing and an up or down vote. To not do so is violative of the United States Constitution.
Aron: What are the prospects of getting the Republican Senate block to crack on this? What’s it going to take to get Mitch McConnell to change his mind?
Booker: Well I think it’s going to be people. What I’m enjoying, hearing and I’m seeing — this on my Twitter feed and other social media — is people in New Jersey saying, “I’m a Republican, but I believe they should give this person a hearing.” I want more and more people to let their voices be heard. We’re seeing now Republicans, Independents and Democrats together the overwhelming majority of our country thinks that when you are elected for a full four-year term your rights and responsibilities as a president don’t end in your third year. When you’re elected for a six-year term as New Jersey said to me, I should not suspend my obligations during an election year. We should be working through this, doing our job. And by the way, when Reagan was up, when FDR, this has been the tradition in the Senate always. A lot of times Republicans are bringing up the words of the current vice president, but at the end of the day they’ve postured and blustered, but at the end, when push came to shove, they held hearings. So don’t use the rhetoric of those folks, look at the facts. The Democratic Party, when times were reversed, gave hearings and did the right thing to give an up or down vote. And the irony is they hold the majority — if they wanted to vote against this nominee, they could actually vote against this nominee, which I actually don’t think they would. Because this nominee is somebody who is a moderate judge with an impeccable reputation, nobody has had, I’ve been told, nobody who’s been nominated for the Supreme Court has had as much federal experience as this person has had. So that’s the problem. I think Mitch understands that if he puts this person up for an up or down vote, many Republicans would vote for him because of the guy’s qualifications.
Aron: Merrick Garland is a white Jewish man. There are those who are saying this is a missed opportunity to add some diversity to the court. What do you say?
Booker: You know, this is the president’s prerogative. As much as I would have picked somebody different, as much as I have thoughts about this, we have a Constitution that clearly states this is the president’s choice and prerogative.