Politics

GOP Senator Calls For An End To Supreme Court Deadlock After Election

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Percy Metcalfe Contributor
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Republican Georgia Senator David Perdue rejected suggestions by his fellow party members that they could permanently block any potential Clinton Supreme Court picks, if she were to become president. He referred to the plan as a “dereliction of duty.”

Perdue serves on the Senate Judicial Committee, which has refused to hold a hearing for Obama’s choice to replace the seat left vacant following the death of stalwart conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Obama’s pick, Merrick Garland, has been left in a state of uncertainty since his nomination.

Perdue’s remarks seem to be in response to statements made by Republican senators John McCain, Richard Burr and Ted Cruz, which indicated that they would permanently refuse to consider a Clinton selection to the bench. McCain later back-peddled on his remarks, when a spokeswoman for the senator and 2008 GOP presidential nominee stated that he would “thoroughly examine the record of any Supreme Court nominee.”

Burr had stated that he would ensure “that four years from now, we’re still going to have an opening on the Supreme Court.” But Burr also had to retreat from his fighting words in scripted statement, which promised that the senator from North Carolina would “assess the record of any Supreme Court nominee.”

If Clinton wins the presidency and the Democrats capture the Senate, she is likely to nominate a judge significantly more liberal than Garland.