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March 16, 2016
Contact: Patrick Egan
patrick@wendylong.com 917-268-1840

U.S. Senate Nominee Wendy Long:
Senate should not act upon
Merrick Garland nomination to U.S. Supreme Court

New York, New York (March 16, 2016): U.S. Senate Candidate and former U.S. Supreme Court clerk Wendy Long, the nominee of the Republican, Conservative, and Reform parties to oppose U.S. Sen Chuck Schumer in November, responded to President Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court:

“The Constitution says the President shall nominate judges. But those judges are appointed to office only if and when the Senate consents. The Constitution does not require the Senate to do anything if it chooses to withhold its consent. Doing nothing equals no consent. That is perfectly constitutional and in in fact saves a lot of time and resources.

“Judge Merrick Garland seems like a goodman. That does not mean he should be elevated to the Supreme Court, especially for the seat of Justice Antonin Scalia, when Americans’ rights such as the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment and the expansive use of executive power to alter immigration and other laws is at stake, and especially in the midst of a contentious presidential and Senate election.

“There is no way that Obama and Chuck Schumer would allow anyone to ascend to the Supreme Court whom they were not confident would be a vote for their liberal activist agenda that has already done so much damage to our country and our Constitution. They can now live with the precedent they have created for blocking judicial nominees they did not like. Ultimately this is for the people to decide, and we shall see whom they elect as our next President and Senators.

“It is much more decent to Judge Garland not to put him through the wringer of a confirmation process that is ultimately going nowhere. He has a job to do, meanwhile, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Let’s let him get back to it.

“As far as his confirmation vote to his current post goes, it is worth remembering that Justice Clarence Thomas was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to the same court that Judge Garland sits on.”

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