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Some Republican
conservatives were concerned that if Democratic presidential
candidate Clinton won the White House, she would pick a more
liberal judge than Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, for a
lifetime appointment to the high court. Garland is a centrist
federal appeals court judge whom a number of Republicans have
praised.
"I would think that she and all the people around her would say,
'Why do we need to rock the boat here? Let's get him confirmed
quickly and move on to the next one, whenever that comes,'" Reid
said on a conference call with reporters.
Clinton has urged the Senate to confirm Garland. Her campaign
did not immediately return a request for comment on Reid's
remarks.
Senate Democrats may try to force a vote on procedural motions
that, if successful, would lead to a vote on Garland before the
new president takes office in January, Reid said. He invited
along Republicans who want to distance themselves from their
party's controversial presidential candidate, Donald Trump.
"We have a couple of options and we are deciding when to do
that. And if we should do that. When and if," Reid said.
The leader of the Republican-controlled Senate, Mitch McConnell,
has refused to schedule hearings on the nomination of Garland,
saying the winner of the Nov. 8 presidential election should
choose the Supreme Court justice. Obama nominated Garland on
March 16 to replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who
died on Feb. 13.
"The majority leader has been clear: the next president will
make the nomination for this vacancy," Don Stewart, deputy chief
of staff for McConnell, said in an email.
A number of Republican senators in tough re-election fights are
trying to distance themselves from their party's controversial
nominee, yet they refuse to hold a vote on Garland, Reid said.
He said those Republicans should call on McConnell to confirm
Garland, not hold the Supreme Court seat for someone as "radical
and unfit" as Trump, a New York businessman who has never held
public office.
"They spend a lot of time these Republicans, spending a lot of
energy trying to separate themselves from Donald Trump. But as
long as they're holding a Supreme Court seat open for him,
they're his minions. They're his enablers," Reid said.
(Writing by Doina Chiacu; editing by Grant McCool)
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