Our high court hangs in the balance. We are at a rare moment in American history. Our nation is divided over the best direction for our future. And as Americans debate who can best lead our country, our high court hangs in the balance.
But, for the first time in decades, Americans have an opportunity not only to decide who gets the keys to the Oval Office, but also to debate the direction of the court for a generation. Do we want someone who will decide cases based on the law, as Antonin Scalia did? Or do we want another justice who believes that the truly difficult cases should be decided based on "what is in the judge's heart," as then-Sen. Barack Obama famously said? This debate matters, especially as Americans prepare to choose the next president. It's a debate worth having as a nation.
That's why my Republican Senate colleagues and I will exercise our constitutional authority to withhold consent on any Supreme Court nominee made by this president during a heated presidential campaign. Our decision is based on the principle that in an American democracy, in a divided nation, the people should be empowered to weigh in on such a consequential decision.
Voters rejected President Obama's policies in 2014, when they revoked the Democrats' Senate majority. As the Senate fulfills its "advice and consent" responsibility, we will protect the ability of the American people to express their will on the direction of the court.
The president has the constitutional authority to nominate a justice in an election year, which he intends to do, even though other presidents, like Abraham Lincoln, chose restraint. The Senate has the equal constitutional authority to consent or withhold consent. Many Senate Democrats have expressed this sentiment, such as then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Biden, when they were in a similar position. And history is on our side. Not since 1888 has an election-year nominee been confirmed during a divided government to fill a vacancy occurring in the same year.
As senators, our job is to ensure Americans' voices are heard. That's exactly what we are doing. The American people are up to the task.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.