Senate Should ‘Just Say No’

On March 16, President Obama announced his nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to succeed the late, great Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court. The U.S. Senate should follow the famous advice of the late First Lady Nancy Reagan and “just say no” to Obama’s nominee.

The media portrays Judge Garland as a “moderate” and a “centrist”—but that’s what they also said about Obama’s two previous nominees (Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor) and Bill Clinton’s two nominees (Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer). Yet all four of those so-called “moderates” voted for decisions that overturned the definition of marriage in federal and state laws.

In his position on the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Judge Garland has not had the opportunity to rule directly on marriage or abortion. However, in two cases he voted against the individual right to keep and bear arms, which means the landmark Heller decision written by Justice Scalia would be overturned if Garland joins the Court.

Even The New York Times admitted that “if Judge Garland is confirmed, he could tip the ideological balance to create the most liberal Supreme Court in 50 years.”

Don’t let a lame-duck president make an appointment that would extend liberal control over the Supreme Court for decades to come. Americans deserve a chance to weigh in on this momentous decision by voting for a president they know will pick at least one new justice.

Bravo to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley for saying they will not consider any nominee this year. Encourage your senators to do likewise. Call or email your senator and say that no Supreme Court appointment should be considered until a new president takes office. {eoa}

Phyllis Schlafly has been a national leader of the conservative movement since the publication of her best-selling 1964 book, A Choice Not an Echo. She has been a leader of the pro-family movement since 1972, when she started her national volunteer organization called Eagle Forum. In a ten-year battle, Mrs. Schlafly led the pro-family movement to victory over the principal legislative goal of the radical feminists, called the Equal Rights Amendment. An articulate and successful opponent of the radical feminist movement, she appears in debate on college campuses more frequently than any other conservative.