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Strickland knocks Portman for shirking constitutional duty
YOUNGSTOWN
Ex-Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, again criticized Rob Portman, the Republican incumbent, 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 Tuesday 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,” Strickland added.
Portman responded, “It’s a contentious partisan election, and it’s the best thing for the people to vote on this. During a presidential election year, it’s not the time to appoint a lifetime” justice seat.
The court has operated effectively with eight justices, because of recusals, in recent years, he said.
Strickland told The Vindicator that Portman “is going to feel the heat from me on this issue throughout the campaign. It’s an issue that resonates. It speaks to the dysfunction of government.”
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.”
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 Republican 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 Justice Scalia died Feb. 13.