Strickland criticizes Portman for position on filling U.S. Supreme Court vacancy

YOUNGSTOWN

Ex-Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, again criticized Rob Portman, the Republican incumbent, today for refusing to consider any candidate for a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy nominated by President Barack Obama.

“Sen. Portman’s continued refusal to uphold his constitutional duty and even consider a new Supreme Court justice puts him wildly out of step with the values that Ohioans care about,” Strickland said outside the Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Youngstown. “This is a clear and defining example of how Sen. Portman is constantly prioritizing the agenda of the Washington Power brokers that he serves over the people of Ohio.”

On Feb. 15, two days after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, a leading conservative on the court, Portman said, “It is common practice for the Senate to stop acting on lifetime appointments during the last year of a presidential term, and it’s been nearly 80 years since any president was permitted to immediately fill a vacancy that arose in a presidential election year.”

Strickland criticized Portman for his position that day.

A Democratic-controlled Senate confirmed Justice Anthony Kennedy 97-0 on Feb. 4, 1988, the last year of Ronald Reagan’s presidential term. But Reagan made the nomination in November 1987.

The longest confirmation for a Supreme Court justice was 125 days for Louis Brandeis in 1916. Obama had about 340 days left in his term when Scalia died Feb. 13.

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com