This GOP senator says that what Republicans are doing to Obama's Supreme Court nominee is 'simply not fair'

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine.) still hasn't reached a decision on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, but she really hopes her party gives her the chance to.
"The only way that the Senate can reach reasonable and informed decisions on nominees to the highest court in the land is for us to follow the regular process," Collins said Wednesday in an interview with the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. "That means having these individual one-on-one meetings and then also the Judiciary Committee, in my view, should hold the kind of in-depth hearings that it has traditionally held."
Thus far, the GOP has adamantly refused to hold hearings for Garland in favor of waiting for the next president to pick a nominee, a move Collins says she thinks is unjust. "I think it's simply not fair and not right to say that no matter who the president was going to nominate, that we should not look at this person the way that we normally would," Collins said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Right now, she's trying to get that point across to colleagues — though she admits she hasn't had much success so far. "I wouldn't say I've been overwhelmingly successful in convincing the chairman of the Judiciary Committee to hold hearings," Collins said, "but I hope that as time goes on, and as people sit down with Judge Garland and talk to him one-on-one, that perhaps there will be a shift in the position of the chairman of the Judiciary Committee."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Beyond this damage lies something more insidious'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Israel approves plan to take over Gaza indefinitely
speed read Benjamin Netanyahu says the country is 'on the eve of a forceful entry'
-
The Supreme Court case that could forge a new path to sue the FBI
The Explainer The case arose after the FBI admitted to raiding the wrong house in 2017
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suit
Speed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
Supreme Court to weigh transgender care limits
Speed Read The case challenges a Tennessee law restricting care for trans minors
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence