During a town hall meeting last month, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KN) had the audacity to suggest Republicans should hold a hearing on Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland. That suggestion broke with the no-meetings, no-hearing, no-vote strategy of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). In the days that followed, Moran walked it back amid a stream of criticism from Tea Party circles.
But the mere fact Moran, who won 70 percent of the vote against Democrat Lisa Johnston in 2010, at one point suggested holding a hearing on a Supreme Court nominee might be a good idea — “I would rather have you complaining to me that I voted wrong on nominating somebody than saying I’m not doing my job,” Moran said — could end up costing him his Senate career. That’s because a Kansas congressman, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R), is now openly flirting with the idea of running against Moran in a primary, citing Moran’s sin of breaking with the Republican leadership’s orthodoxy.
Asked about whether Pompeo is interested in running against Moran, a Pompeo spokesman told the Hutchinson News, “He certainly does not rule it out.” That comment came on the same day that Pompeo released a statement in which he characterized Moran’s pro-hearing comments at the town hall as “identical to the liberal Democrat talking point.”
The Two Short Words That Could Keep Merrick Garland From Being ConfirmedJustice by CREDIT: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais “Dick Lugar.” If you want to understand why the battle to confirm…thinkprogress.org“Senator Moran’s original position failed to recognize that denying consent to a Supreme Court nominee –- the Senate’s prerogative under the Constitution -– is doing one’s job every bit as much as holding the hearing, to which Senator Moran was publicly committed just three days ago,” Pompeo continued.
After criticizing Garland’s record — “Judge Garland has a disastrous record on the second amendment and his defense of government intrusion into the lives of individual Kansans and government bureaucracy” — Pompeo’s statement argues that it doesn’t really matter what Garland’s record is.
“For me, every Republican Senator should unequivocally say that there will be no hearings for anyone that President Obama would nominate –- we know who this president is and what his worldview is with respect to the United States Supreme Court,” Pompeo said. “It’s not about politics, it’s about the Constitution. I hope that Senator Moran will get it completely right and publically [sic] acknowledge that, under no circumstances, should a hearing be given to a Supreme Court nomination before the next President is inaugurated.”
Only two of the 54 Republican senators — Mark Kirk (IL) and Susan Collins (ME) — now support holding a hearing on Garland’s nomination. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reportedly wants to meet with Garland to discuss in person to explain why Republicans have no intention of holding hearings on his appointment.
During an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Tuesday morning, McConnell ignored Moran’s town hall comments and said he doesn’t foresee any additional cracks forming in the Republicans’ wall of opposition to Garland.
“I don’t see any,” Mr. McConnell said. “We had a couple of our members in blue states that have a contrary view, but there’s, you know, 52 others who are very comfortable with no hearings or no votes.”