Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, set the day’s tone in his opening statement on the Senate floor. “This is a sad day for one of the proudest committees in the United States Senate,” said Reid, training his sights on Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s, R-Iowa, “ineptness” in refusing to meet with the President’s as-yet unnamed nominee and slow-walking Obama’s other judicial nominations over the past year. “By nearly every metric, the Judiciary Committee under Chairman Grassley is failing dramatically,” the minority leader said.
A couple hours later, Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-New York; Al Franken, D-Minnesota; Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut; and Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, held a press conference with a slew of progressive organizations on hand to deliver to the senators a petition with 1.2 million signatures demanding Republicans hold hearings and vote on a nominee.
