"Today, I am nominating Chief Judge Merrick Brian Garland to join the Supreme Court."
President Obama made his long-anticipated and awaited announcement earlier this week, nominating Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court. Obama made the announcement in the White House Rose Garden, saying it's one of the most serious parts of his job. But it's a move many Republicans feel it's not his to make, and have vowed to block until after the election.
Republican Senator Orrin Hatch explained, "The senate has never, never confirmed a nominee to a Supreme Court vacancy that opened up this late in a term-limited president's time in office."
Take a look back at history, and this is false. It's rare for a Supreme Court seat to open up during a presidential election year. The last time was all the way back in 1940 when Franklin Roosevelt nominated Frank Murphy to replace Justice Pierce Butler. But we found 5 times over the past hundred years that it's happened. And each time, the president had less than a year left in his presidency, made a nomination, and had that nomination confirmed.
Democratic Senators agree with the President, telling Congress, "I do hope they will do their constitutional duty and give President Obama's nominee a meeting, a hearing and a vote. He's doing his job this morning. The republicans should do theirs from this point forward."
Turning to Article 2, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution, also known as the "Appointment Clause," the President "shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint... judges of the Supreme Court." So this is true. The Constitution says Senators have this job to do. There's no time limit, but it usually happens pretty quickly. The average wait time from a presidential nomination to a Senate confirmation of the justices currently sitting on the Supreme Court is 71 days. If that timeline holds true, the Senate would confirm Obama's pick around June 2nd.
Some party leaders, like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the DNC Chair, says that's what Americans want. She explained, "I'm sure the American people think that we shouldn't lave a Supreme Court seat of which there are only 9 and a court that has the consequential issues facing them as this court does open for almost a year."
According to recent polls, this is true. 63% of Americans in an ABC News-Washington Post poll agree that the Senate should hold hearings and vote on a nominee this year. 32% disagree.