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GOP senators revoke support for Garland hearings

 
Judge Merrick Garland now has just two GOP senators who openly support his hearing.
Judge Merrick Garland now has just two GOP senators who openly support his hearing.
Published April 3, 2016

WASHINGTON — The wall of Republican opposition to the nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland to the Supreme Court has been shored up by two Republican senators revoking their support for holding confirmation hearings.

Their moves highlight the immense pressure that Republican leaders are placing on senators as they try to build unified opposition to President Barack Obama's choice to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February.

As the White House heralds the number of Republicans agreeing to meet with Garland, Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have reversed themselves and say they now back the decision made by Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, not to hold hearings.

"Sen. Moran called Sen. Grassley to discuss his position," said a statement released by Moran's office Friday. "As Sen. Moran has said, he is opposed to President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. He has examined Judge Garland's record and didn't need hearings to conclude that the nominee's judicial philosophy, disregard for Second Amendment rights and sympathy for federal government bureaucracy make Garland unacceptable to serve on the Supreme Court."

Moran's announcement, first reported by National Review, came a week after he said the Senate should move forward with the nomination process, including holding hearings and meeting with Garland.

Similarly, a spokeswoman for Murkowski, Karina Petersen, said the Alaska senator also no longer supports holding hearings, although she will meet with Garland to discuss cases that are important to her state.

"Sen. Murkowski respects the decision of the chair and members of the Judiciary Committee not to hold hearings on the nominee," Petersen wrote in an email.

In February, before Obama named Garland as his pick, Murkowski told reporters in Alaska that the nominee should be granted a hearing.

Their announcements leave just two Republicans who openly support holding hearings and even voting on Garland's nomination: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mark S. Kirk of Illinois.