Washington, March 17: Barack Obama dramatically intensified his dispute with Senate Republicans on Wednesday, warning as he announced his nomination of DC appeals court judge Merrick Garland to the US supreme court that continuing to block confirmation proceedings would inflict irreparable damage on the pillars of American democracy.
In an impassioned speech from the Rose Garden of the White House, Obama issued an unalloyed threat to the Republican leadership: begin the confirmation process or reap the consequences. He said that to do otherwise – as the Senate majority leader, Mitchell McConnell, has vowed to do – would imperil democracy itself. Related: Merrick Garland: bridge-building judge thrust into the middle of a political war
“The reputation of the supreme court will inevitably suffer. Faith in our justice system will inevitably suffer. Our democracy will suffer as well,” the president said. By appointing Garland, 63, the chief judge of the federal appeals court of Washington DC, Obama seeks to hit the sweet spot of the current dispute triggered by last month’s death of the influential conservative supreme court justice Antonin Scalia. Garland is widely seen as a moderate individual motivated by legal propriety as opposed to political point scoring, and has earned plaudits over the years from both sides of the aisle.
Among his admirers, Garland can count the Republican senator for Utah, Orrin Hatch, who has called him a “consensus nominee” and “a fine man”. John Roberts, the conservative chief justice of the supreme court, has also praised Garland’s “reasonableness”, memorably stating: “Any time Judge Garland disagrees, you know you’re in a difficult area.”
