Warren: Refusing SCOTUS hearing ‘a direct insult’ to Obama

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) says Republicans are insulting President Obama and Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland by refusing to consider the judge in a hearing.

“This has really just taken off in a direction that is a direct insult to the president, it is a direct insult to the Constitution and now it is a direct insult to Judge Garland,” she said on “CBS This Morning” on Thursday.

{mosads}“Let’s be clear — just go back and look at history,” Warren continued. “Every single Supreme Court nominee to a vacant position has had a hearing and a vote. The only ones who didn’t get a hearing didn’t get a hearing because it went straight to a vote. That is a hundred years of actual fact.”

Warren accused Senate Republicans of shirking their professional duties.

“Filling a Supreme Court nomination is one of the most solemn tasks undertaken by this government,” she said. “This isn’t supposed to be a circus. It’s not supposed to be some kind of crazy political process.

“Now it is our job in the United States Senate to hold hearings, to examine [Garland’s] credentials and then to have a vote on him. That’s what the Constitution calls for. That’s what advise and consent means. We want Judge Garland to come over.”

Obama on Wednesday nominated Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Garland, the chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, swore he would practice “fidelity” to the Constitution if placed on the nation’s highest court.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisted later Wednesday that GOP senators will not conduct hearings on any Supreme Court nomination made by Obama.

Many Republicans have argued that replacing Scalia should be left to the next president.