Former Vice-President and presidential hopeful Joe Biden announced he would be open to renominating Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court, for any vacancy which may arise during his presidency, he told Iowa Starting Line.
Garland was Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit when he was appointed to fill the position of Associate Justice left vacant after the death of Justice Scalia. In an unprecedented move, Senate Republicans adamantly refused to even consider an appointee to the court during an election year. The seat intended for Garland was filled by Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch.
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Adding that he thinks Garland is a “first-rate person” Biden opined on the circumstances of his blocked nomination, and specifically the reaction of the Democratic party. “I think we should have been a whole heck of a lot harder on [**Mitch McConnell**],” said Biden, who went on to say that special interest group finances were at play in the Senate at the time. “I’m in a red state, if I go ahead and just call for a hearing, the Koch Brothers will drop five, 10 million dollars on my race,” Biden quotes Republicans at the time as answering why they agreed to go along with party leadership and block the bill.
Biden said that one of the issues he will address as president will be campaign finance reform, though he will not attempt to expand the Court, an idea to which some other 2020 candidates have warmed.
