April 5, 2016

Susan Collins (R-ME) is now the second Republican to call for hearings. None of them on the Senate judiciary committee have done so yet.

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — Senator Susan Collins of Maine on Tuesday became the second Republican to meet with Judge Merrick B. Garland, saying their conversation had further convinced her that the Senate should hold hearings on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.

“The meeting left me more convinced than ever that the process should proceed,” she told reporters after their meeting. “The next step, in my view, should be public hearings before the Judiciary Committee so that the issues that we explored in my office can be publicly aired and so that senators can have a better opportunity to flesh out all of the issues that we discussed.”

Ms. Collins said she found that Judge Garland had given her “very thorough, impressive” answers behind closed doors. Although she said it was too soon to say whether she would support him if his nomination came to a vote, she said she believed more of her Republican colleagues should sit down with him as well.
....
With Senator Mark S. Kirk of Illinois, who is among the most endangered Republican incumbents this election year, Ms. Collins is one of just two Republicans who have openly supported granting Judge Garland full consideration, including confirmation hearings. Every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee — led by Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the committee’s chairman — signed a letter vowing not to hold hearings.

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