American Conservative Union chair Matt Schlapp pushes back at Supreme Court nomination

OPINION:

Conservatives are swiftly pushing back at the White House nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court to replace the late Antonin Scalia.

“Once again, President Obama has shown his blatant disregard for the U.S. Constitution by nominating a person to replace Justice Scalia who ignores the fundamental premise that our government is to be limited and citizen based,” said American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp. “As a federal appeals court judge, Merrick Garland has tried to restrict individual rights and he has worked to expand the power of the federal government over Americans’ lives.”

Mr. Schlapp applauds Republican Senate leaders, he says, “for standing on principle and upholding their role of advice and consent in filling Supreme Court vacancies.”

He added, “President Obama considers the Constitution a series of old-fashioned suggestions rather than the law of the land. The Senate should continue to stand strong and prevent a lame-duck president from remaking the court for decades to come.”

A wide-ranging coalition of conservative leaders, meanwhile, has also drawn a line in the sand.

“President Obama wants to deny the American people that choice. And no wonder. He has already made two extreme liberal appointments to the Court and if given a third he will have succeeded in decisively changing the current balance of the Court,” warns the Conservative Action Project, a coalition of over 100 high-profile conservatives who include Herman Cain, Gary Bauer, Brent Bozell, Ed Meese, Tony Perkins and Grover Norquist.

“Let there be no mistake about it: President Obama will nominate a liberal to this vacancy. Press leaks about potential ‘moderate’ candidates should be interpreted as simply misdirection from the White House. The president and his liberal allies know what is at stake and so do we,” the group noted in an open letter released Tuesday.

Find the complete letter here.

“We are facing a national constitutional crisis. Senate Republicans have recognized the stakes and have acted accordingly. We are all too aware of the negative assault that is coming against the Republican senators as the national media throws its collective liberal weight against GOP efforts to allow the American people to play their rightful role in the nomination,” the group concluded.