I sent this email to Toomey
Senator Toomey,
How dare you use convoluted logic in your reason(s) for not wanting to confirm a new Supreme Court Justice.
You state that we should wait until after the November Presidential Election and allow a new President to make this nomination, because it would allow the voters to have more input in this issue.
Well back in November 2012, the voters did have input in this issue and elected President Obama. We have all ready weighed in on this issue.
Your hatred for President Obama is intolerable. Your unwillingness to work across the aisle is abysmal. Your whole tenure as Pennsylvania Senator is abysmal, and I cannot wait until November 2016, when you will be a lame duck.
and got this response:
Thank you for contacting me about the Supreme Court. I appreciate hearing from you.
As you know, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away on February 13, 2016. He was a great public servant, principled jurist, and tireless defender of the Constitution. My prayers are with Justice Scalia's family during these difficult times.
With Justice Scalia's passing, there has been much discussion about how the nomination process for this vacancy should be addressed. For me, I have long believed that objective qualifications, character, and adherence to the rule of law matter more than ideology in evaluating judicial nominees. Accordingly, during my five years in the Senate, I have worked across the aisle with Senator Bob Casey and the Obama White House to fill 16 vacancies on the federal bench in Pennsylvania-14 on district courts and two on the court of appeals. Only two other states-California and New York-have had more vacancies filled during this time. I also have voted to confirm over 100 of President Obama's judicial nominees, and I supported the confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
The current vacancy on the Supreme Court, however, presents an unusual situation. In the final year of a presidency, it is extremely rare for vacancies that arise on the Supreme Court to be filled. In fact, the last time such a vacancy was filled was 1932. The vacancy created by Justice Scalia's passing is especially sensitive because it will fundamentally affect the balance of the Supreme Court for a generation or more.
Given that we are already well into the presidential election process and that the Supreme Court appointment is for a lifetime, it makes sense to give the American people a more direct say in this critical decision. I believe that the next court appointment should be made after the upcoming elections by the next president. If that new president is not a member of my party, I will take the same objective, non-partisan approach to that nominee as I have always done.
Under the Constitution, the power to appoint federal judges is a shared one. The Constitution vests the president with the power to nominate judges, and President Obama certainly has the authority to nominate someone to the Supreme Court. The Constitution vests the Senate with the power to grant or withhold its consent to a nomination. It does not require the Senate to provide any particular process or follow any particular timeframe when considering considering a nominee. In fact, Vice President Joe Biden and other prominent elected Democrats have argued that the Senate should exercise its constitutional power to withhold consent for Supreme Court nominations made during presidential election years, and that such nominees should not be confirmed by the Senate or receive a hearing. I believe this approach is as sensible now as it has been during previous presidential elections.
Thank you again for your correspondence. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of assistance.
Sincerely,
Signature
Pat Toomey
U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania
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