Coons praises Garland as 'intelligent,' 'experienced'
WASHINGTON - Sen. Chris Coons described Merrick Garland as "extraordinarily intelligent" and "experienced" after meeting with the Supreme Court nominee on Thursday.
Garland, chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, met for nearly an hour in private with Coons, D-Del., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
If the White House had hoped Thursday's meeting would aid President Barack Obama's push for action on Garland’s nomination, Coons didn't disappoint.
He said Garland is “exactly the sort of person” he had hoped Obama would choose, calling him a “consensus candidate” who should get a hearing before the Judiciary Committee and a confirmation vote by the full Senate. Coons said the judge showed “an appreciation for … building consensus in order to reach a narrowly crafted opinion” that respects legal precedent.
Garland has spent most of this week making courtesy calls to senators on Capitol Hill, including some Republicans. But GOP Senate leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are sticking to their vow not to act on Garland's nomination, saying the next president should choose a successor for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February.
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Most Senate Republicans have lined up behind McConnell, with some refusing to even meet with Garland amid fierce pressure from conservative advocacy groups.
As Garland made the rounds in the Senate, Obama traveled to Chicago to deliver a speech arguing that his nominee deserves at least a hearing and an up-or-down vote in the full Senate.
Coons on Thursday stopped short of saying he would vote for Garland if his nomination moves forward.
“I am just beginning the demanding process of digging into his judicial record,” he said. “[But] he exceeded my expectations in terms of his thoroughness and his thoughtfulness.”
Coons said he hopes the GOP opposition softens as senators learn more about Garland's record and temperament.
“It’s my hope that, as more and more senators meet with him and as more and more senators hear concerns from their constituents, the odds that there will be a hearing for this talented nominee will increase,” Coons said. “We should have hearings, which would be open to the entire country and … we should vote.”
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Delaware’s senior senator, Democrat Tom Carper, said he has not yet been able to schedule a meeting with Garland but hopes to soon.
“We’ve asked to get on his dance card and my hope and expectation will be sometime this month,” Carper said.
He echoed Coons’ hope that the GOP's opposition fades, although he suggested any shift would be more political than substantive.
“If it becomes apparent somewhere down the line that the next president might be a Democrat, they may want to think about the kind of nominee that he or she might send to us, as compared to this nominee,” Carper said.
Gregory Korte of USA Today contributed to this story.