Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Saturday said the Senate is within its constitutional rights to not consider President Obama's Supreme Court nominee.
 
Tillis insisted it's best for the country that the Senate not hold hearings for Merrick Garland and instead wait for the next president to nominate a replacement for the deceased Antonin Scalia.
 
“While the Constitution allows the President to nominate a Supreme Court justice, our Founding Fathers also made sure to give the Senate advise-and-consent authority, to help protect the integrity of our system of checks and balances,” he said.
“The Senate can confirm a nominee, we can reject a nominee, or we can simply choose to withhold consideration of the nomination altogether so the American people can weigh in on this important decision,” he added.
 
“This is about principle, not the person the President has nominated.”
 
Tillis also lashed out at the Democrats, saying their insistence on confirming a nominee this year is undemocratic.
 
“The President and Democratic leaders aren’t exactly thrilled with giving the American people a voice,” he said. “And contrary to their claims, the Senate is doing its job and fulfilling its constitutional obligation by deferring consent in order to let the people’s voice be heard.”
 
The North Carolina senator encouraged the country to move on from the debate over the Supreme Court and focus on achieving bipartisan legislation.
 
“Both sides can respectfully agree to disagree, but it’s now time to move on to address the many pressing challenges facing our nation,” he said. “We know good things happen when both parties in Washington cast aside their areas of disagreement and instead focus on identifying areas of common ground.”
 
Tillis noted a bipartisan bill that was passed last week to combat opioid addiction and called on Congress to take up bills to increase funding for veterans' healthcare and the military.
 
“Senate Republicans already have their sleeves rolled up and we’re ready to get this and much more done,” he said.
 
“The question now is what choice the President and Democratic leaders will make. Will they join us in doing our jobs on behalf of the American people? Or will they instead seek to further divide our nation by turning the Supreme Court process into a blatantly partisan back and forth?"
 
He added that the Republicans taking back the Senate in 2014 was a clear referendum on Americans’ view of the Democratic Party, saying Obama should take it as a sign that voters want to have a say in selecting the next Supreme Court justice.
 
“I hope they’ll accept, however reluctantly, the fact that the American people will have a voice in this Supreme Court decision, and start focusing on the issues that concern hardworking Americans,” Tillis said. “I hope the President’s final months in office will be spent working with both parties to do great things for our nation.
 
“That’s what the American people want. That’s what the American people deserve.”

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