Merrick Garland

April 18, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff

Oral argument in DAPA case highlights the need to block Merrick Garland

Featured image The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in United States v. Texas. This is the case in which Texas and 25 other states challenge the Obama administration’s deferred-action policy (DAPA), otherwise known as executive amnesty, an attempt to give legal status and work authorizations to more than four million illegal immigrants. We have written often about the case. See here and here, for example. Elizabeth Slattery of the Heritage Foundation »
April 10, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff

Can Obama get Garland on the Court without Senate confirmation?

Featured image Gregory Diskant, an accomplished New York lawyer, argues in the Washington Post that President Obama could appoint Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court without the Senate having confirmed the nomination. How is this possible? Because, says Diskant, the Senate could be deemed to have waived its “advice and consent” role on a Supreme Court nomination if it “fails to act” on the nomination within a “reasonable” time. Diskant’s argument »
April 7, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff

Meeting with Merrick Garland is not a big deal

Featured image We haven’t written much about the Senate’s treatment of, and the posturing by Senators surrounding, Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court. The reason I haven’t written much is that the state of play seems clear: Judge Garland will not get a hearing before the November election. Afterwards, if a Democrat wins the presidency, Republicans will consider their options. In the absence of any real suspense, the discussion has »
March 25, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff

Joe Biden’s revisionist history of his own views [UPDATED]

Featured image When politicians sanctimoniously advocate positions that everyone knows are the opposite of the ones they would take if the partisan setting were flipped, they reinforce the contempt Americans feel towards them as a class. The dispute over whether to hold hearings for and/or to confirm Merrick Garland is a case in point. Both sides are guilty to some degree of advancing positions they would denounce if the shoe were on »
March 21, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff

Judge Garland’s “judicial restraint”

Featured image The mainstream media, serving its traditional role as tool of the Democratic Party, is breathlessly pushing the talking point that Judge Merrick Garland is a practitioner of “judicial restraint.” Robert Barnes of the Washington Post peddles the theme here. David Savage, writing for the Los Angeles Times, does so here. Greg Weiner demonstrates, however, that the “judicial restraint” displayed by Judge Garland consists of deferring to the administrative state, not »
March 19, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff

John Kasich would consider Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court

Featured image Republicans are united behind the idea that Judge Merrick Garland should not be confirmed this year, given President Obama’s lame duck status and the fact that Garland would give liberals a clear majority on the Supreme Court. Most Republicans don’t even think Garland should have a hearing. But John Kasich has a different perspective. In an interview to be aired tomorrow on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” the Governor Can »