Blumenthal Urges Senate Republicans to Do Their Job, Stop Obstructing Consideration of SCOTUS Nominee

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today called on Senate Republicans to do their job and allow for hearings on a Supreme Court nominee by President Obama. Speaking on the Senate Floor, Sen. Blumenthal cited historical precedent for considering a nominee, and reiterated that politicizing the process has lasting impacts on the credibility of and trust in the Supreme Court.

“What may be most regrettable about this debate and about the Majority Leadership's refusal to have a hearing and a vote on the president's nominee is that it demonstrates political machinations, game blaming that threatens the Supreme Court as an institution,” Blumenthal said.  “It endangers its credibility and trust. The Supreme Court has no armies or police force. The enforceability of its decisions depends on its credibility and trust. And when it is demeaned in the eyes of the public, when its stature is diminished, when it is dragged into the political morass of a partisan debate and partisan paralysis, its credibility and trust and its stature are vastly diminished—and its powers as an institution is endangered.”

Blumenthal served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun and has argued cases before the high court.

Video of the senator’s remarks on the floor is available here.

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