“I have fulfilled my constitutional duty,” President Barack Obama said on Wednesday. “Now it’s time for the Senate to do theirs.” No, the President wasn’t specifically referencing the creation of a new Twitter account to promote his Supreme Court nominee. But those words and plenty of others are already on the page dedicated to the President’s choice.
The SCOTUS Nomination page, @SCOTUSnom, is aimed at garnering public support for federal Judge Merrick Garland, Obama’s pick to fill the seat vacated by Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February.
While highlighting Garland’s credentials, the Twitter feed is also driving home the point that the Senate should actually hold hearings on the nomination, despite opposition from Republican senators who want to block an election-year confirmation.
A video pinned to the top of the page introduces the 63-year-old Garland, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
https://twitter.com/SCOTUSnom/status/710127524014104576
The first several tweets from the new account reiterated facts concerning the President’s constitutional obligation to nominate candidates for empty Supreme Court seats, and the Senate’s duty to conduct a hearing or a vote on nominees.
https://twitter.com/SCOTUSnom/status/710062393494097921
https://twitter.com/SCOTUSnom/status/710068697151352832
https://twitter.com/SCOTUSnom/status/710076258319622144
https://twitter.com/SCOTUSnom/status/710089406464577536
Once the President came out of The White House to introduce Garland, the page became a running feed of Obama’s comments, mostly retweeting the main @WhiteHouse account.
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/710119927550713857
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/710120307311439872
The President spent some time running through Garland’s impressive judicial resume.
https://twitter.com/SCOTUSnom/status/710120697692028930
https://twitter.com/SCOTUSnom/status/710121582388240384
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/710122668356472832
Obama closed by letting the Senate and Republicans in particular know that the ball was in their court.
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/710123874881544192
https://twitter.com/SCOTUSnom/status/710124123477958656
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/710150221880303616
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/710124494447353856
SCOTUSNom also shared some tweets from those who would like to see the confirmation process move forward.
https://twitter.com/VP/status/710133234080681984
https://twitter.com/SenatorLeahy/status/710135296952651776
https://twitter.com/SenatorCardin/status/710123214995857408
https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/710160464538439684
The President’s main Twitter feed got in on the action as well.
https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/710141204755783681
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell offered up these tweets and more from his account, reaffirming his position that the American people, by deciding on the next president, should be given a say in who the Supreme Court justice should be.
https://twitter.com/Senate_GOPs/status/710135712063033345
https://twitter.com/SenateMajLdr/status/710130193977974785