President Obama took to the airwaves Monday to pressure six Republican senators in their home states over his Supreme Court nominee, amid signs that Democrats are shifting their focus to winning control of the Senate in November rather than filling the high court vacancy.
Mr. Obama conducted interviews at the White House with TV stations from Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin — all states with incumbent Republican senators running for re-election. Ostensibly, the president’s media blitz was aimed at forcing the Senate Republican leadership to schedule a confirmation hearing and vote on Judge Merrick Garland, who has been waiting seven weeks for action.
Meanwhile a government watchdog group, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, asked Judge Garland to authorize the release of his office of professional responsibility records from his tenure at the Justice Department during the Clinton administration.
In his letter to Judge Garland, foundation director Matthew G. Whitaker said Americans “need to know whether any such records exist and to examine existing records in order to evaluate your qualifications to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.”
“Without your consent, there is simply no other method for citizens to obtain this information,” Mr. Whitaker said.
During the George W. Bush administration, Senate Democrats used a similar issue as justification for blocking the nomination of conservative lawyer Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Democrats insisted that they would not allow a final vote until the White House released Mr. Estrada’s working papers from his time at the Clinton Justice Department.
The Bush administration refused to release those memos. Mr. Estrada also was on the legal team for Mr. Bush that fought the Florida recount in the contested 2000 presidential election.
Democrats point to polling that shows Republicans such as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa losing support in their home states for supporting the blockade of Judge Garland’s nomination.
In a conference call organized by White House allies, pollster Geoff Garin of Hart Research said Mr. Grassley’s favorability ratings have fallen from 60 percent in 2014 to 42 percent in late April. His negative ratings have risen over the same period from 19 percent to 30 percent, Mr. Garin said, attributing the fall to Mr. Grassley’s refusal to hold a confirmation hearing for the nominee.
In the survey, 44 percent of respondents said they are less likely to support Mr. Grassley in November because he is blocking the Garland nomination.
The polling, funded by the Constitutional Responsibility Project and the League of Conservation Voters, found that 60 percent of Iowa voters, including 63 percent of independents, agree with the conclusion that Mr. Grassley is allowing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to dictate the Senate Republican position on the nomination, “rather than acting as a leader as chairman of the Judiciary Committee,” the groups said.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said he is “terribly disappointed” in Mr. Grassley.
Mr. Grassley has defended his stance against the Garland nomination as a principled move that will give voters in November a voice in choosing the direction of the court. Only two of the 54 Senate Republicans say Judge Garland should receive a confirmation hearing.
Conservative activists said Democrats haven’t gained any traction in their push for Judge Garland, and they reacted with skepticism to progressives’ campaign targeting nine Senate Republicans in nine states in nine days over the current legislative recess.
“The so-called 9-9-9 plan is really a desperate 9-1-1 call by liberals who will say and do anything to create the most liberal Supreme Court majority in decades,” said Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network. “A Supreme Court with Garland would roll back our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, harm small businesses by empowering unaccountable bureaucrats at agencies like the EPA and legalize partial-birth abortion. The Judicial Crisis Network is going on offense to ensure the people understand the truth about Merrick Garland: He is a liberal nominee from a liberal president.”
The Judicial Crisis Network is airing a $500,000 ad campaign over the Senate’s recess in key states to call attention to Judge Garland’s record.
Mr. Obama nominated Judge Garland, 63, in March to fill the vacancy created by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. He is chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and has received bipartisan praise for his qualifications.
Conservatives worry that replacing the conservative justice with Judge Garland would shift the balance of power on the evenly divided court in favor of progressives for years to come.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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