Sanders, Clinton call on lawmakers to hear out Garland

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders calls Judge Merrick Garland a strong nominee for the Supreme Court and argues that refusing to hold hearings for his nomination would be unprecedented.

In a statement, Sanders notes that the 63-year-old Garland has decades of experience on the bench. Sanders says Obama has done his job by nominating Garland and that Senate Republicans now must do theirs.

Sanders calls on Republicans to hold confirmation hearings and bring the nomination to the floor of the Senate if Garland is approved by the Judiciary Committee.

Earlier, Hillary Clinton said Garland had a “brilliant legal mind and a long history of bipartisan support and admiration” and it’s up to the Senate to perform their Constitutional duty “they swore to undertake.”

Clinton said the confirmation of a justice “should not be an exercise in political brinkmanship and partisan posturing.”

She noted the Senate has never taken more than 125 days to vote on a Supreme Court nominee and Garland deserves a “full and fair hearing followed by a vote.”

— AP