As Senate Republicans return home this week to tell voters why they are opposing President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, seven have a bit more explaining to do.
These GOP senators voted in 1997 to confirm nominee Merrick Garland to his current post on the appeals court. They were Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, Arizona Sen. John McCain and Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe.
Today, several of the senators say there’s no discrepancy between their 1997 votes and the 2016 plan to hold no hearings and no votes until the next president is in office.
Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas says “it’s not about the nominee, it’s about the process.”