The American People Should Decide the Future Direction of the Supreme Court

The President’s Pick is a Political Pawn; The Senate Should Reject this Effort

WASHINGTON – American Energy Alliance President Thomas Pyle issued the following statement on President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court:

“President Obama has decided to once again put politics over the best interests of the American people. With his decision today to nominate Merrick Garland for the highest court in the land, the president may succeed in mobilizing his political base, but he will fail in his attempt to remake the court in his final months in office. With so much at stake, the Senate should exercise its authority under the Constitution and reject this effort. Doing so will ensure the American people have a voice in choosing who will replace Justice Scalia.

“The Supreme Court’s role in the policymaking process has grown immensely in recent decades, as the Court has weighed in on many politically charged topics, including energy and environmental policy. The president’s executive agencies have regularly exceeded the boundaries of their power, bypassing the legislative branch and the will of the American people in the process.

“Nowhere is the administration’s overreach more apparent than with the EPA’s carbon rule. After failing to move cap-and-trade legislation through a Democratic-controlled Congress, the president turned to the EPA to operate outside the agency’s mandate and usurp states’ control over their energy policies. Confirming President Obama’s nomination would consolidate more power in the executive branch while taking it away from the democratically-elected legislative branch.

“EPA’s illegal carbon rule will take away states’ rights and force higher energy costs on the American people, which will have a severe and lasting impact on their day-to-day lives. For these reasons and many more, we applaud Senator McConnell and Senator Grassley for exercising their constitutional right to withhold consent from this president’s nominee and for protecting America’s voice in this decision.”

Click here to read AEA’s ten reasons why the next president should fill the Supreme Court vacancy.

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