GOP Presidential Candidates Share Their Opinions on Obama's SCOTUS Nomination

Republican Presidential candidates weighed in after President Obama made his SCOTUS nomination last week. While the commentary varies, the theme is the same throughout: Republicans want Americans to have a say in the next appointment. Donald Trump said: 

I think the next president should make the pick, and I think they shouldn’t go forward, and I believe I’m pretty much in line with what the Republicans are saying. . . . Certainly they could wait it out very easily. I would be not in favor of going forward.

Trump's point reiterates one made by Republican Senators. Let the next president choose. The court can and has functioned just fine with eight or fewer justices.

John Kasich told a crowd at Villanova University that President Obama shouldn’t “stiff the legislative body” by trying to rush through a confirmation process. Kasich stated the obvious concerns surrounding the haste with which Obama is attempting to force a hearing. Rushing such a monumental decision, one that will most certainly affect the balance of the Court, is not something that one should “rush” through or politicize. 

Ted Cruz reiterated the same message - “Let the people decide”:

Garland is exactly the type of Supreme Court nominee you get when you make deals in Washington D.C. . . . Make no mistake, if Garland were confirmed, he would side predictably with President Obama on critical issues such as undermining the Second Amendment, legalizing partial-birth abortion, and propping up overreaching bureaucratic agencies like the EPA and the IRS. We cannot afford to lose the Supreme Court for generations to come . . . . 

I proudly stand with my Republican colleagues in our shared belief—our advice and consent—that we should not vote on any nominee until the next president is sworn into office. The People will decide. I comment Mitch McConnell and Chuck Grassley for holding the line and ensuring that We the People get to exercise our authority to decide the direction of the Supreme Court and the Bill of Rights.

President Reagan once said, “We the people tell the government what it is allowed to do.” This is the principle that Republican leaders and candidates continue to reiterate in speech after speech. Let the people decide on the future of the Supreme Court.