WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a former member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (2007-2010), urged Senate Republicans to abandon their unprecedented decision to ignore any nominee put forth by President Obama to fill the open seat on the Supreme Court.
“I find it disgraceful that my Republican colleagues are vowing to obstruct a Supreme Court nomination before the nominee has even been named. The president doesn’t stop working simply because it is an election year. Congress should not stop working either.
“Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution states that the president SHALL nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate SHALL appoint judges of the Supreme Court. Elections have consequences. Though some Republicans seem to have forgotten, the American people elected President Obama to four-year terms, twice. President Obama must carry out the constitutional responsibilities and duties of his office by nominating a successor for Justice Scalia.
“Our job as senators is to examine the qualifications of the nominee for the position. The tradition of the United States Senate is to allow each senator to vote yea or nay on a nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States. This move by the overwhelming majority of Senate Republicans is yet another exercise in governing by crisis and an affront to the president and the American people. The American people will ultimately demand that the Senate does its job and not threaten to stop working simply to coddle and pander the most extreme and fringe elements of its base.”
