Several organizations and lawmakers rallied together on Tuesday to remind Senate Republicans that they still have a job to do--confirming Judge Merrick Garland as a Supreme Court justice.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Senator Cory Booker (N.J.), and Senator Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), among others, took to the floor of the chamber to lambaste Republicans for blockading the vote on Garland, who has been waiting for confirmation since President Barack Obama nominated him to the high court in March.
"This Republican Senate, which had such promise according to the Republicans, has been a flop. The Senate hasn't kept its word to the nation," Reid said. "No Supreme Court nominee in modern times has waited this amount of time without at least getting a hearing. This is unprecedented."
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) also joined in the call, stating, "Senate Republicans must do their jobs by holding a hearing and vote of the full Senate on Judge Garland's nomination. Advice and consent isn't an option, it's an obligation."
Urgency is growing as the Senate also prepares to break again from October 7 to November 14. In total, 40 senators introduced a resolution Tuesday that would prohibit a recess for longer than two days for the rest of the session until a hearing and a vote on Garland take place.
As the senators spoke, groups led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights held a nearby rally under the long-standing banner #DoYourJob, where the organization's executive director, Wade Henderson told the crowd, "Next week, the Supreme Court will begin a new term as it ended the last one--with only eight of nine justices on the bench. And that spells trouble for justice in our nation--more tie decisions and even non-decisions from a court that cannot function short-handed."
"This is simply outrageous and cannot be allowed to continue a single day longer," Henderson said.
