page_title: Merrick Garland Supreme Court nomination
section_title: Announcement
hierarchical_section_title: Merrick Garland Supreme Court nomination / Nomination / Announcement
caption_attribution_description: US Senator Al Franken meets with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.
context_page_description: On March 16, 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to succeed Antonin Scalia, who had died one month earlier. At the time of his nomination, Garland was the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
  This vacancy arose during Obama's final year as president, and shortly after Scalia's death was announced, Republican Senate leaders declared that because Scalia's seat had become vacant during an election year, the Senate would not even consider a nomination from the president. Senate Democrats criticized the move as being unprecedented and responded saying that there was sufficient time to vote on a nominee before the election. Garland's nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the 114th Congress, 293 days after it had been submitted to the Senate. Obama's successor, Donald Trump, nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacancy on January 31, 2017, soon after taking office.
context_section_description: On March 16, 2016, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland, the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to fill the vacant seat on the Court. In a formal Rose Garden ceremony, Obama, flanked by Garland and Vice President Joe Biden, declared: "I have selected a nominee who is widely recognized not only as one of America's sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence. Presidents do not stop working in the final year of their term; neither should a Senator." He went on to say: "To suggest that someone as qualified and respected as Merrick Garland does not even deserve a hearing, let alone an up-or-down vote, to join an institution as important as our Supreme Court, when two-thirds of Americans believe otherwise—that would be unprecedented." Garland then briefly spoke, stating that "fidelity to the Constitution and the law have been the cornerstone of my professional life" and promising to "continue on that course" if confirmed for the Supreme Court.
  The White House simultaneously released a biographical video of Garland, featuring old photographs of Garland and his family, an interview with the judge, and archival footage of him at the scene of the Oklahoma City bombing, which Garland investigated. In the video, Garland states: "When I am standing with the President and he announces my nomination, I actually think it is going to feel a little bit like it is an out-of-body experience." 
  The selection of the 63 year old Garland, the oldest Supreme Court nominee since Lewis F. Powell Jr. in 1971 at age 64, caught prediction markets by surprise. On the PredictIt market, traders predicted that Srinivasan would be the nominee, trading as high as 97% on this outcome.
caption: Garland meeting with Democratic U.S. Senator Al Franken
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