Senate Judiciary Committee Opposes Supreme Court Hearings

Earlier today the GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowing not to hold hearings on Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement until a new president is sworn into office in January 2017. The letter states in part:

Over the last few days, much has been written about the constitutional power to fill Supreme Court vacancies, a great deal of it inaccurate. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution is clear.  The President may nominate judges of the Supreme Court. But the power to grant, or withhold, consent to such nominees rests exclusively with the United States Senate. This is not a difficult or novel constitutional question. As Minority Leader Harry Reid observed in 2005, “The duties of the Senate are set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Nowhere in that document does it say the Senate has a duty to give the Presidential nominees a vote. It says appointments shall be made with the advice and consent of the Senate. That is very different than saying every nominee receives a vote.”

The full letter can be viewed here.