President Barrack Obama's announcement of his nominee for the new U.S. Supreme Court Justice as Merrick B. Garland, has stirred the Senate in their meetings, with Democrats trying to convince the Republicans, who have vowed to renounce any nomination, to to reverse course and instead hold confirmation hearings this year.
The president officially named Garland as a Supreme Court nominee as they stood before a large crowd of media and other attendees in the Rose Garden at the White House. Obama said that he chose Garland because he was "a serious man and an exemplary judge."
"I've selected a nominee who is widely recognized not only as one of America's sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness, and excellence...Presidents do not stop working in the final year of their term; neither should a senator," Obama continued, according to New York Times.
New York Democrat Senator, Chuck Schumer, said in Reuter's report, "It's crystal clear after talking to him that Judge Garland has both a brilliant legal mind and a heart of gold."
Garland, 63 years old, is an American federal judge who is the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1997.
His qualities and experience could be the factors that will convince Republicans to start the confirmation hearings for Garland's designation.
According to a report by NPR, Garland's name has repeatedly come up - from Republicans and Democrats - in discussions about Supreme Court vacancies, even before the late Justice Antonin Scalia. If Garland is approved, he will continue to become the U.S.' 113th Supreme Court Justice.
Those opposed of Obama's nominee is Majority Leader of the Senate, Addison Mitchell McConnell, Jr., from the Republican Party who was firm with his stand that he will not consider the president's choice. According to CNBC report, Obama's nominee was made out of a political intention just for the purpose of the election.
Republican Senator McConnell said that the Senate will look into the vacancy once the next president nominates someone. He also added the American people should also have a say in this matter.
Despite the oppositions, Garland spoke in front of the crowd at the White House's Rose Garden: "As my parents taught me by both words and deeds, a life of public service is as much a gift to the person who serves as it is to those he is serving. And for me, there could be no higher public service than serving as a member of the United States Supreme Court."
