Hi, folks. Joe Biden here and I'm sitting with Tim Lewis, a retired1 federal judge who was nominated to the bench by a Republican President and confirmed by a Democratic Senate - within four weeks of a presidential election.
Hello, everyone. That's right. And I'm living proof that President Obama's nominee2 to the Supreme3 Court Chief Judge Merrick Garland-deserves similar consideration by today's Senate.
Not only because Merrick Garland is recognized I might know - without exception - by the right and the left as one of America's sharpest legal minds and a model of integrity. But also because that's what the Constitution requires.
The sitting President shall-not may-but shall nominate someone to fill a vacancy4 on the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate. That includes consulting and voting.
Here's how it works. For 17 years, I was chairman or the ranking member of the top opposition5 party person an
