Gardner in 2016: “The Next President Ought to Choose The Supreme Court Nominee”

Gardner, 8 Months Before the 2016 Election: “Our next election is too soon and the stakes are too high; the American people deserve a role in this process as the next Supreme Court Justice will influence the direction of this country for years to come.”

Denver, CO - In March 2016, Senator Cory Gardner fell in line with Mitch McConnell in refusing to take up President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, saying that “our next election is too soon and the stakes are too high; the American people deserve a role in this process as the next Supreme Court Justice will influence the direction of this country for years to come.” 

Now, after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg tragically passed away, Gardner is faced with the question: Will he play by the rules he and McConnell made and let the next president make this lifetime appointment after the voters have their say? Or will he put his party ahead of Colorado and let Trump ram through a nominee who will decide the fate of the Affordable Care Act and so many other issues for generations to come?

Here’s the standard Gardner has set for himself on filling a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court:

Gardner Press Release: “The next president of the United States should have the opportunity to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court...Our next election is too soon and the stakes are too high; the American people deserve a role in this process as the next Supreme Court Justice will influence the direction of this country for years to come.”

PBS: “Well, look, I think the next president ought to choose the Supreme Court nominee. And I think that is only fair to the nominee themselves. And I think that is only fair to the integrity of the Supreme Court. Now, this is a very serious issue. And I think it's what Joe Biden stated in 1992, what Chuck Schumer stated in 2007. The next president ought to be making this decision.”

Denver Post: “Asked his opinion about the high court vacancy, Gardner said the successor to the recently deceased Antonin Scalia ‘ought be chosen by the American people through the election of the next president… ‘Again, I think we’re too close to the election. The president who is elected in November should be the one who makes this decision.’”

Will Gardner honor the rules that he and Mitch McConnell made, or will he move the goalposts for his own political gain?

So far, he isn’t commenting.

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