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“I have known Merrick Garland for many years, and I deeply admire him as an incredibly scholarly and smart jurist, a dedicated and effective prosecutor, and a decent and good man," said Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I hope the American people have an opportunity to see and hear Judge Garland as I did today, because there will be no question that he deserves a hearing and vote.
"Once the American people know Judge Garland, I believe they will conclude he is impeccably well qualified to be a justice on the United States Supreme Court."
Last month, President Barack Obama nominated Garland, 63, to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February.
Since then, Senate Republicans have refused to consider the nominee put forward by Obama, saying that a Supreme Court nomination should be left to the next president.
Obama has blasted Republicans, saying it is his constitutional duty to appoint a Supreme Court judge that there was no tradition that a president not fill a Supreme Court vacancy during the president's last year in office.
“I regret that he and the judiciary have been dragged into the mud and muck of partisan politics. His treatment demeans our judiciary and the United States Supreme Court and endangers the rule of law. Judge Garland has dedicated his life to the rule of law and the effective and fair enforcement of law, and that is the kind of person we need on the Supreme Court. I will fight as long and hard as I can to make sure that Merrick Garland receives a hearing and a vote, and I believe he will be confirmed if he is given that opportunity.”
Garland is the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He has served on that court since 1997.
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