Dan Sullivan said 'principle' made Supreme Court vote impossible in election year

Sen. Dan Sullivan knew before President Obama nominated Merrick Garland in 2016 that there was a principle at stake.

The principle was that nearly nine months in advance of a presidential election, the Senate should not hold hearings or consider any nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. To do so would deprive Alaskans and all U.S. voters of their right to have a say in the matter.

Justice Antonin Scalia died Feb. 13, 2016. Within an hour, Sen. Mitch McConnell had announced that he would block any Obama nominee. He talked about principle and allowing voters to have a voice in November 2016.

Sullivan immediately fell into line, borrowing stock phrases from the McConnell talking points about principle and allowing voters to have a voice in November 2016.

“I don’t see myself voting for any Obama administration appointee,” Sullivan told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, nearly a month before Garland’s nomination.

On Feb. 29, 2016, Sullivan told Alaska legislators it was essential to wait until after a new president was chosen before considering a Supreme Court nomination.

Sullivan said with the vacancy “literally in the throes of a presidential election, I think one of the most important things we can do is let the American people, and let the Alaskan people, decide. Because this election, it’s now becoming very clear in November. Yes, it’s gonna be about who controls the Senate. Yes, it’s gonna be about who controls the White House, but it’s also gonna be about the control of the U.S. Supreme Court, which is why this is such an important election.”

He said had the president been a Republican with the Senate under Democratic control, the Democrats would have taken the same position.

“I’m not on the judiciary committee, but I support what they’re doing,” Sullivan said to reporters, referring to the Feb. 23 letter by GOP senators saying the election was underway and there would be no hearings on any Obama nominee. The opposition was “born of a necessity to protect the will of the American people,” according to the letter.

President Obama nominated Garland on March 16. Sullivan said his opposition was all about the principle of waiting until a new president took over.

“The decision to withhold advancement of Mr. Garland's nomination isn't about the individual, it's about the principle,” Sullivan said.

"Alaskans, like all Americans, are in the midst of an important national election. The next Supreme Court justice could fundamentally change the direction of the Court for years to come.”

"Alaskans deserve to have a voice in that direction through their vote, and we will ensure that they have one,” Sullivan said in his press release.

Sullivan’s PR man, Mike Anderson, said Sullivan would be happy to meet Garland in 2017, after the presidential election.

“We have informed the White House that there is no need for a meeting at this time,” Anderson said March 25.

Look for Sullivan to announce his support of whoever President Trump nominates to the Supreme Court, saying that it is all about principle, respecting the voice of the American people, etc.

There is a principle that Sullivan follows—count on him to say and do whatever McConnell and Trump want him to do.

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