President Trump, nominate Garland first

Dear President Trump,

Congratulations on your historic election victory. A key theme of the first days of your administration is reforming or reversing policies from the Obama presidency that you believe are bad for the country. The biggest threat to our nation from the Obama era, in my opinion, was the Senate refusing to give hearings and a vote to Obama’s supreme court nominee. As you know, there is no provision in the constitution that allows the Senate to do this. It was a serious violation that diminished the power of your office, and I am disappointed that your predecessor did not do more to remedy it. You may now be the only one who can fix this.

Please nominate Merrick Garland first. If you do the Senate will give him a proper hearing and vote, restoring our nation’s commitment to the constitution. They may vote against his confirmation if they do not find him qualified, but in doing so they will have fulfilled their obligation. In that case I would encourage you to re-nominate Neil Gorsuch. If Mr. Gorsuch is the eventual justice either way, it may seem trivial to nominate Mr. Garland first. I hope you believe, as I do, that upholding the United States Constitution is never trivial.

I have encouraged my senators to filibuster your current nomination despite Mr. Gorsuch’s apparent qualifications to the position. Know that I do so not out of any opposition to you, but out of support for our constitution instead.

This story was originally published February 18, 2017 at 7:21 PM with the headline "President Trump, nominate Garland first."