Fiscal Note
No appropriation required.
Title
A Resolution of the City of Madison urging the United States Senate to take action and advise and consent on the President’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Body
Whereas, the Constitution of the United States provides that the Senate shall provide advice and consent for appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States;
Whereas, the Senate’s constitutional duty to advise and consent on judicial nominees is one of its most important and solemn responsibilities;
Whereas, the Senate has confirmed more than a dozen Supreme Court justices in presidential election years, including five in the last 100 years;
Whereas, the Senate has confirmed justices in presidential election years in which the executive and legislative branches of government were divided between two political parties, including Justice Anthony Kennedy’s confirmation in 1988;
Whereas, the Senate Judiciary Committee has never denied a Supreme Court nominee a hearing since it began holding public confirmation hearings;
Whereas, if the Senate refuses to consider a Supreme Court nominee until after the next President is sworn into office, it will result in the longest Supreme Court vacancy caused by Senate inaction since the Civil War;
Whereas, the Supreme Court serves an essential function resolving critical questions of law that affect our community, its economy, and its citizens;
Whereas, the City of Madison participates as an amicus in cases before the Supreme Court, including pending cases on immigration, limiting greenhouse gases and reproductive health care;
Whereas, Wisconsin’s own Senator Ron Johnson is a member of the Judiciary committee with a responsibility to conduct hearings on a nominee to the Supreme Court;
Whereas, the President has nominated Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, who “has earned a track record of building ...
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