Judge Merrick B. Garland is President Obama’s Choice for the Supreme Court

1. THE SUPREME COURT NOMINATION OF
JUDGE MERRICK B. GARLAND &
AND ITS IMPLICATIONS
Joshua Baca and Lena Koncha, DDC Public Affairs

2. DDC | 2
• Clinton appointee on the D.C.
Circuit who has long been
discussed as a potential Supreme
Court nominee
• Considered a moderate
• The last time a seat opened up on the
U.S. Supreme Court, in 2010, he was
widely considered a top candidate for
the job and interviewed with
President Barack Obama
• On environmental law, Judge Garland
has in a number of cases favored
contested EPA regulations and actions
when challenged by industry, and in
other cases he has accepted
challenges brought by environmental
groups. [SCOTUS Blog]
Judge Merrick B. Garland is President
Obama’s Choice for the Supreme Court

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• Within an hour of the news, Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell
came out saying the Senate should not confirm a replacement for
Scalia until after the 2016 election.
• With a vacancy on the Court, the responsibility to fill it falls on
President Obama and the Senate; pursuant to Article II, section 2 of the
Constitution, the president nominates justices of the Supreme Court, and
the Senate confirms them with a majority vote.
• If Justice Scalia is replaced with a liberal, that would tilt the Supreme
Court to a 5-4 liberal majority.
• It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to
go a year with a vacant seat.
Scalia Vacancy, Merrick Nomination & What it
Means
February 13, 2016 Justice Antonin Scalia passed away.

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Historical Precedent
Since 1900, the Senate has voted on eight Supreme Court
nominees during an election year and 6 were confirmed.
• Several of those were for seats that had become vacant in the
previous non-election year.
• The Senate has never taken more than 125 days to vote on a
successor from the time of nomination.
• On average, a nominee has been confirmed, rejected or
withdrawn within 25 days.
• When Justice Antonin Scalia died, 342 days remained in
President Obama’s term [New York Times]

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Both Sides Ready for SCOTUS Battle
1 http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4dfa9302b1e360755dfd2c851df888f405401ac24c4c7199aecd449e03a88fdd
2 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rnc-launches-effort-to-block-obama-scotus-nominee/
• White House and its allies will unleash a coordinated media and political blitz
aimed at weakening GOP resistance to confirming the president's pick.
• Administration allies have already started putting a ground game in place.
Obama campaign veterans have been contracted in six states - New Hampshire,
Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where GOP incumbents are most
vulnerable, plus Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley's Iowa. [3/13/2016,
Politico Pro1]
• The RNC is launching a campaign to try to derail President Obama's nominee to
the Supreme Court, teaming up with a conservative opposition research group to target
vulnerable Democrats and impugn whomever Obama picks.
• The RNC will contract with America Rising Squared, an outside group targeting
Democrats that's run by a longtime aide to GOP Sen. John McCain. GOP
chairman Reince Priebus said it would be the most comprehensive judicial response
effort in the party's history. [3/14/2016, CBS News2]
DDC | 5

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Many cases are now facing an eight-member split. If the court ties,
the decision of the appeals court remains in place, without setting
a nationwide precedent.
Key Cases Facing the Court
• Clean Power Plan: Scalia presumably was among the five
justices voting to suspend the Obama administration’s
sweeping plan to reduce CO2 emissions from the nation’s
electrical grid.
• Immigration: The Supreme Court is also considering whether
President Obama exceeded his powers in trying to shield
millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.
• Public-sector unions: Conservatives teed up the dream
case with Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Assoc., which
promised to overturn a 1977 decision, Abood v. Detroit Board
of Education, that allows laws requiring government workers
to pay union dues as a condition of employment.
• Class actions: The Roberts court has steadily rolled back the
excesses of the class-action bar, issuing rulings that enforce
contract terms requiring individual arbitration and requiring
plaintiff lawyers to state their claims with precision.
• Affirmative action: The Supreme Court in July agreed
to consider again whether race-conscious college
admission plans are constitutional.
• Obamacare: Little Sisters of the Poor v. Burwell is yet
another challenge to the Obama administration’s rule
requiring religious employers to provide contraceptive
care in their insurance benefits.
• Abortion: The conservative majority was poised to
expand the concept of “undue burden” on a woman’s
right to abortion to include regulations on providers in
Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellersted.

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Battle for Senate Control
Republican 54-seat
majority is in serious
danger in 2016
Democrats have fewer risky
seats to defend. Mainly
Colorado and Nevada,
which have leaned
Democratic in recent years*
*Politico
Republicans are already
fighting to defend seats in six
states Obama carried twice:
Florida, Illinois, New
Hampshire, Pennsylvania,
Ohio and Wisconsin

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The Implications for the Nation of a Changing Supreme Court
Regardless of what happens with Justice Scalia’s
replacement, there will be likely at least three other Justices
to be appointed over the next 4-8 years of the next
President’s term
– Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be nearly 84
– Justice Anthony Kennedy will be over 80
– Justice Stephen Breyer will be 78
Stakes are extremely high for not only for Scalia’s
replacement, but the implications on Senates races and
the direction of the country’s ideological leanings
should a Democrat get elected to the Presidency.

9. THANK YOU
Joshua Baca, DDC Public Affairs