TO THE EDITOR:
The current political stalemate around the Supreme Court nomination process is frustrating to see. I'm ashamed of Ohio's own Senator Rob Portman for encouraging further obstruction of the process. While he plans to meet with Judge Merrick Garland, he has publicly stated that he doesn't think the Senate should move forward on the nomination process in order to "let the people" decide in the November election. Sen. Portman forgets that the people decided in 2012 to re-elect President Obama to another four-year term, which doesn't end until the next president is sworn in early next year.
Just hours after the untimely passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, Republican senators announced that they would wait until the next president was elected before moving forward on a nominee. This obstructive position is unacceptable. President Obama has fulfilled his constitutional duty by nominating an eminently qualified jurist to the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland -- now it's time for Senate Republicans to do their job.
I know that a majority of students on campus lean more conservative, but I think it's clear to see that this action is nothing but political gamesmanship. There are some critical issues hanging in the balance, such as the President's Clean Power Plan, and it deserves to be heard by a complete Supreme Court bench. According to a recent report from ICF International, the transition to a clean energy economy will create up to 56,000 jobs in Ohio -- including thousands of jobs in the construction sector -- while growing the state's economy by up to $9.5 billion. We need a full Supreme Court bench to get us there.
Aharon Brown
brownac5@miamioh.edu