Elizabeth Warren: GOP obstruction on SCOTUS pick an "insult"
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is slamming her Republican colleagues over their promised obstruction of President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, calling it a "direct insult to the president."
"This isn't supposed to be a circus. The president has done his constitutional duty, he has sent us a nominee, and now it is our job in the United States Senate to hold hearings, to examine his credentials, and then to have a vote on him. That's what the Constitution calls for," Warren said on "CBS This Morning" Thursday. "This has just really taken off in a direction that is a direct insult to the president, it is a direct insult to the Constitution, and now it is a direct insult to Judge Garland."
Mr. Obama announced his pick to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on Wednesday, naming U.S. Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland for the role. Shortly after the president's Rose Garden address, Senate Republicans reiterated their vow to block Garland from any confirmation hearings or votes.
While Warren did not directly answer the question of whether she would support Garland, she said that she would like to take the time in determining whether he was qualified, rather than engaging in "some kind of crazy political process."
"The whole point right now is that we want Judge Garland to come over," Warren said. "I want to meet with him, I want to look at his credentials, I want to see him perform in a hearing, and then I want to be able to have a vote on him."
The Democratic senator also weighed in on her party's presidential primary race, where she has yet to make an endorsement for either former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
When pressed on when she plans to back a candidate, Warren said, "I don't have a timeline for this."
"What I'm glad to see is what's happening right now, and that is that the Democrats are out talking about the issues," she said. "I think that makes it very distinct what happens between our side and what's happening over on the other side."
Pressed on whether Warren, well-known for her crusade against big banks, believed current front-runner Hillary Clinton needed to release the transcripts of her speeches to Wall Street firms, the Democratic senator didn't say.
"I think that our candidates are out doing what they should do in a primary," Warren said. "They are debating the issues."