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 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has pledged not
to hold confirmation hearings or a vote on Obama's nomination on
Wednesday of Merrick Garland, a centrist appeals court judge and
former prosecutor, to the high court.
Not all Senate Republicans want to block a vote on Garland. Senator
Mark Kirk, locked in a tough re-election battle in Illinois, told
WLS radio in Chicago that senators should "just man up and cast a
vote" on the Garland nomination. Kirk broke with McConnell last
month, calling for hearings and a vote on Obama's nominee.
Conservative activists, however, vowed to fight in support of
Republican leaders who insist that the next president, to be elected
on Nov. 8 and take office in January, make the appointment, hoping
their party's candidate wins.
 The conservative group Judicial Crisis Network said it would start a
$2 million, three-week television, radio and digital advertising
campaign in six states starting on Monday backing McConnell's
stance.
Garland, 63, would replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who
died on Feb. 13, on the nine-seat court. His appointment could tip
the court leftward for the first time in decades.
Liberal groups, including CREDO Action and MoveOn.org Civic Action,
said they would rally at various locations on Monday calling on
Senate Republicans to "Do Your Job" and put Garland through a full
confirmation process.
One rally was planned for outside the Des Moines, Iowa office of
Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee that
would convene any hearings. The Iowa senator has said he opposes
hearings but is open to meeting with Garland. The conservative ad
campaign also is targeting Grassley.
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One senior Senate Republican aide, referring to pressures Grassley
faces over the recess, speculated on the possibility he would return
to Washington on April 4 more open to holding confirmation hearings.
"Two weeks in Iowa with Iowans screaming at him?" the aide said.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest indicated Vice President Joe
Biden, a former Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, would lend his
voice next week to administration efforts pressing for Garland's
confirmation.
While Earnest said Biden "can be a pretty persuasive advocate,"
Republicans have noted that Biden, as Judiciary Committee chairman
in 1992, argued for postponing action on Supreme Court nominees
during an election year.
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Lawrence Hurley, Richard
Cowan, Jeff Mason and Megan Casella; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing
by Grant McCool)
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