WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 10: Merrick Garland is shown during a meeting on May 10, 2016 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 6:44 PM PT – Monday, March 1, 2021
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) doubled down on his opposition to Merrick Garland’s nomination to lead the Justice Department.
During remarks after Monday’s Senate Judiciary Committee vote, Cruz accused Garland of refusing to answer questions from GOP lawmakers during his confirmation process. The Texas senator was one of seven lawmakers on the panel who voted against advancing Garland’s nomination to a full Senate floor vote.
Sen. Ted Cruz spoke during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
He argued the panel was setting a bad precedent by greenlighting Garland.
“He has not even met the standard, the Holder or Lynch standard. For this committee, the precedent this committee is setting, is that a nominee for attorney general can sit before this committee and essentially refuse to answer all questions,” Cruz stated. “Say, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know, I can’t tell you, I don’t know,’ and whichever party is in the majority will vote to confirm that nominee nonetheless. That’s the precedent I predict will come back to haunt this committee.”
Answering “I don’t know” or “I’m not going to tell you”—as Garland did hundreds of times—is NOT…
“answering the questions.” https://t.co/E3Tyv3Knc4
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 1, 2021
Speaking on the nomination, ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said it would be up to Garland to stop the DOJ from becoming an arm of the Democrat Party.
The full Senate is now slated to vote on confirming Merrick Garland as attorney general.
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