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Indiana Senators Split On Obama SCOTUS Nominee Garland

The White House
/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/scotus

Indiana’s U.S. Senators are split on whether their chamber should vote on President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court vacancy. 

Merrick Garland, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, was confirmed by the Senate in 1997, including an affirmative vote from Republican Dan Coats.  And Coats in recent weeks said Obama’s nominee should get a hearing. 

But in a statement, the Hoosier Senator now says the next president should fill the vacancy.  Coats says with the nomination coming in the middle of what he calls a “highly contentious presidential election process,” the people should have a voice in what Coats believes is a decision that will fundamentally alter the Supreme Court’s direction. 

Coats’ Democratic counterpart Joe Donnelly says the Senate was elected to do a job that includes considering and voting on Supreme Court nominees…and that senators should do that job.  Speaking specifically about Garland, Donnelly says only that he’ll carefully review and consider the judge’s qualifications.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.
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