Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley's recent meeting with Judge Merrick Garland was a retelling that the Senate will not hold any confirmation hearings on the latter's Supreme Court nomination.
Senator Grassley hosted Judge Garland in the Senate dining room on Tuesday morning for a "friendly" discussion over breakfast, in which he conveyed his firm stance against Garland's nomination to take over the seat of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
"It was a very friendly meeting," the Republican senator told CNN. "I enjoyed talking to him but nothing has changed."
To many, the result of the meeting was perhaps expected as Senator Grassley has consistently held on to his vow to oppose any Supreme Court nomination until after a new president is inaugurated following the November elections. But the vote is far from certain. Senator Grassley, who is currently up for a re-election bid, is under pressure from Washington and Iowa, where both he and Judge Garland hail from.
According to the New York Times, only two Republicans have defected from the party's no-hearing stance. Senators Susan Collins of Main and Mark Kirk of Illinois have urged the Senate to conduct a hearing and vote on Judge Garland's nomination.
Majority of the Republicans in the senate have firmly stood by their position against the nomination, causing the Democrats to call them out for obstructionism and undermining their constitutional mandate.
"Dark-money groups (conservative contributors) are trying to do the Republicans' dirty work and sully Judge Garland's name while Republican senators prevent Judge Garland from explaining his views to the public," New York Senator Chuck Schumer stated, via Reuters. "That is cowardly, it's backward and it is wrong."
Meanwhile, the White House has issued a letter written by 15 former presidents of the American Bar Association addressed to the Senate leaders, urging them to take a seasonable action on Garland's nomination.
Judge Merrick Garland was nominated by President Barack Obama to fill the Supreme Court vacancy on Mar. 16.
