WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) — President Barack Obama on Tuesday is expected to meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley amid a deadlock over the Supreme Court vacancy left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Obama says he will name a nominee to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, while Republican leadership maintains they will not meet Obama’s nominee nor hold confirmation hearings.
GOP leadership argues Obama should not name a successor and that it should be up to the next president to do so as elections loom, stating the American people should have a say on who gets nominated.
Ahead of the meeting with Obama, McConnell and Grassley released a joint statement in which they indicated they have not changed their positions.
“We look forward to reiterating to him directly that the American people will be heard and the next Supreme Court justice will be determined once the elections are complete and the next president has been sworn into office,” the statement reads.
Also attending the meeting will be Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
On Monday, Reid condemned Grassley’s rejection of even meeting with Obama’s potential nominee.
“The chairman has turned the impartial reputation of the Judiciary Committee into an extension of the Trump campaign,” Reid said on the Senate floor.
Meanwhile, the White House on Monday announced Brian Deese, a senior adviser to Obama, would lead efforts in selecting a nominee for the Supreme Court.
Deese will “ensure that the full capacity of the White House is trained on this effort, even while the rest of the White House continues its important work on other presidential priorities,” a White House official said.
Deese is responsible for Obama’s climate change agenda and previously led the controversial bailout of the American auto industry.
