WASHINGTON — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley told President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee on Tuesday that the Senate won’t advance his nomination “during this hyper-partisan election year,” the lawmaker’s office said.
Grassley’s breakfast meeting with federal judge Merrick Garland was “cordial and pleasant” and lasted about 70 minutes.
Grassley, R-Iowa, has been a favorite target of Democrats criticizing Republicans for their refusal to consider Obama’s nomination this year. Republican opposition has been led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., with Grassley refusing to allow his committee to hold even the usual hearings for the nominee.
Grassley evaded reporters waiting for him outside the Senate Dining Room in the Capitol, where he met with Garland. He had said in advance that he would recite to the judge the Republican position that the Senate won’t consider a nominee until the new president elected this November makes a selection.
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