{"id":18003,"date":"2016-04-30T11:36:04","date_gmt":"2016-04-30T18:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=18003"},"modified":"2016-04-30T11:36:04","modified_gmt":"2016-04-30T18:36:04","slug":"president-obamas-weekly-address-its-time-for-the-senate-to-do-its-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=18003","title":{"rendered":"President Obama&#8217;s Weekly Address: It\u2019s Time for the Senate To Do Its Job"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Hi, everybody.  It\u2019s now been 45 days since I nominated Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.  Judge Garland is a man of experience, integrity, and unimpeachable qualifications.  Judge Garland is someone who Senate Republicans are on record saying is \u201ca man of accomplishment and keen intellect;\u201d a man who\u2019s \u201chonest and capable;\u201d a man whose \u201creputation is beyond reproach.\u201d  Those are all quotes from Republicans in the Senate.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bl8quI2z0sY\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But so far, most Senate Republicans have refused to even meet with Judge Garland.  Which means they\u2019ve also refused to do their job and hold a hearing on his nomination, or an up-or-down vote.  But they\u2019ve still found time to head home for recess over the next week.<\/p>\n<p>This is an abdication of the Senate\u2019s responsibility.  Every Supreme Court nominee since 1875 who hasn\u2019t withdrawn from the process has received a hearing or a vote.  For over 40 years, there\u2019s been an average of 67 days between a nomination and a hearing.  This time should be no different.  This is not about partisan politics \u2013 it\u2019s about upholding the institutions that make our democracy work. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a reason Judge Garland has earned the respect of people from both political parties.  As a young lawyer, he left a lucrative private firm to work in public service.  He went to oversee the federal response to the Oklahoma City bombing.  For the last 19 years, Judge Garland has served on the D.C. Circuit Court \u2013 often called \u201cthe Second Highest Court in the Land\u201d \u2013 and for the past three years, he\u2019s served as that court\u2019s Chief Judge.  In fact, Judge Merrick Garland has more federal judicial experience than any other Supreme Court nominee in history.  With a brilliant mind, a kind spirit, and a good heart, he has dedicated his life to protecting our rights, and ensuring that the voices of everyday Americans are heard.<\/p>\n<p>So there is absolutely no reason for Republican Senators to deny him the basic courtesy of a hearing and a vote \u2013 the same courtesy that has been extended to others.  This refusal to treat a Supreme Court nomination with the seriousness it deserves is what makes people so cynical about Washington.  That\u2019s why poll after poll shows a majority of Americans think Senate Republicans should do their job; give Judge Garland a hearing; and give Judge Garland a vote.<\/p>\n<p>For all of our political differences, Americans understand that what unites us is far greater than what divides us.  And in the middle of a volatile political season, it is more important than ever that we fulfill our duties \u2013 in good faith \u2013 as public servants.  The Supreme Court must remain above partisan politics.  I\u2019ve done my job \u2013 I nominated someone as qualified as Merrick Garland.  Now it\u2019s time for the Senate to do their job.  Give Judge Garland a hearing.  Give Judge Garland an up-or-down vote.  Treat him \u2013 and our democracy \u2013 with the respect they deserve. <\/p>\n<p>Thanks for listening, and have a great weekend. <\/p>\n<p>###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Hi, everybody. It\u2019s now been 45 days since I nominated Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Judge Garland is a man of experience, integrity, and unimpeachable qualifications. Judge Garland is someone who Senate Republicans are on record saying is \u201ca man of accomplishment and keen intellect;\u201d a man who\u2019s \u201chonest and capable;\u201d a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/weekly.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}