Another GOP senator agrees to meet with Garland

Sen. John Hoeven (N.D.) will become the latest Republican to sit down one-on-one with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland on Thursday, a White House official said.

The meeting is a late addition to Garland’s schedule on Capitol Hill, which also includes sit-downs with Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

{mosads}Hoeven will be the eleventh Republican senator to meet with Garland, something the White House points to as a sign the GOP could eventually lift its blockade on his nomination.

Many Republican senators, though not Hoeven, initially said they would refuse to even meet with Garland. But several, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (Iowa), have changed their minds.

The meetings haven’t led Republicans to change their stance that the next president — not Barack Obama — should choose a replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

After talking with Garland on Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) praised him but stood by his position he should not receive a hearing or a vote.

Hoeven announced the same position back in March.

“The American people need to have an opportunity to voice their opinion at the ballot box as to what kind of judge they want to replace Justice Antonin Scalia,” he said in a statement then. “In fact, that is actually a bipartisan position expressed by numerous Democratic leaders in recent years.”

Hoeven is up for reelection in November, but is expected to coast to victory. Still, liberal groups have organized protests against the senator calling on him to consider Garland’s nomination.