Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Merrick Garland

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On March 16, 2016, President Barack Obama announced Merrick Garland as his nominee to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the United States Supreme Court. At the time of his nomination, Garland was serving as chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He joined the court in 1997 after being nominated by former President Bill Clinton.

During a speech in the White House Rose Garden, President Obama said, "I’ve selected a nominee who is widely recognized not only as one of America’s sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence. These qualities and his long commitment to public service have earned him the respect and admiration of leaders from both sides of the aisle. He will ultimately bring that same character to bear on the Supreme Court, an institution in which he is uniquely prepared to serve immediately. Today, I am nominating Chief Judge Merrick Brian Garland to join the Supreme Court."

President Obama also discussed the political climate surrounding Garland's nomination. He said, "At a time when our politics are so polarized, at a time when norms and customs of political rhetoric and courtesy and comity are so often treated like they are disposable, this is precisely the time when we should play it straight and treat the process of appointing a Supreme Court justice with the seriousness and care it deserves because our Supreme Court really is unique. It’s supposed to be above politics. It has to be. And it should stay that way."

Read below what Donald Trump and the 2016 Republican Party Platform said about U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.

CANDIDATE SUMMARY

Trump agreed with Republicans that Merrick Garland's nomination should not move forward.

He said that the next president should fill the Supreme Court vacancy.

Trump on Merrick Garland

• During an interview on CNN on March 16, 2016, Donald Trump discussed the process for choosing the next United States Supreme Court justice. He said, "I think the next president should make the pick, and I think they shouldn’t go forward, and I believe I’m pretty much in line with what the Republicans are saying."

• Read what other presidential candidates said about Merrick Garland.

The 2016 Republican Party Platform on the judiciary

“ The Judiciary The rule of law is the foundation of our Republic. A critical threat to our country’s constitutional order is an activist judiciary that usurps powers properly reserved to the people through other branches of government. Only a Republican president will appoint judges who respect the rule of law expressed within the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, including the inalienable right to life and the laws of nature and nature’s God, as did the late Justice Antonin Scalia. We are facing a national crisis in our judiciary. We understand that only by electing a Republican president in 2016 will America have the opportunity for up to five new constitutionally-minded Supreme Court justices appointed to fill vacancies on the Court. Only such appointments will enable courts to begin to reverse the long line of activist decisions — including Roe, Obergefell, and the Obamacare cases — that have usurped Congress’s and states’ lawmaking authority, undermined constitutional protections, expanded the power of the judiciary at the expense of the people and their elected representatives, and stripped the people of their power to govern themselves. We believe in the constitutional checks and balances and that the Founders intended the judiciary to be the weakest branch. We encourage Congress to use the check of impeachment for judges who unconstitutionally usurp Article I powers. In tandem with a Republican Senate, a new Republican president will restore to the Court a strong conservative majority that will follow the text and original meaning of the Constitution and our laws. The legitimate powers of government are rooted in the consent of the American people. Judicial activism that includes reliance on foreign law or unratified treaties undermines American sovereignty. Foreign laws and precedents should not be used to interpret our Constitution or laws, nor should foreign sources of law be used in state courts’ adjudication of criminal or civil matters. We also affirm the wisdom of President George Washington’s warning to avoid foreign entanglements and unnecessary alliances. We therefore oppose the adoption or ratification of treaties that would weaken or encroach upon American sovereignty or that could be construed by courts to do so. We will not recognize as binding upon the United States any international agreement forged without the constitutionally required assent of two-thirds of the United States Senate. ” —2016 Republican Party Platform

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Donald Trump on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Merrick Garland - Google News

See also

• Supreme Court vacancy, 2016: An overview
• Impact of the 2016 election on the United States Supreme Court
• U.S. Senators on the nomination of Merrick Garland
• Presidential candidates, 2016
• 2016 presidential candidates on the death of Antonin Scalia and the Supreme Court vacancy
• Process to fill the vacated seat of Justice Antonin Scalia
• U.S. Supreme Court
• Antonin Scalia
• Merrick Garland

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