Air Quote by Elena Kagan

The Senate should refuse to confirm nominees who do not take Congressional power seriously.

— Adam Cohen

No matter how badly senators want to know things, judicial nominees are limited in what they may discuss. That limitation is real, and it…

— Orrin Hatch

People in Congress are willing to shut down the entire government or to make it impossible for a Supreme Court nominee to get a…

— George Packer

The majority in the Senate is prepared to restore the Senate's traditions and precedents to ensure that regardless of party, any president's judicial nominees,…

— Mitch McConnell

That Republicans now control the Senate means, of course, that they control the confirmation process. Their majority enables them to stop an unacceptable nomination…

— Terry Eastland

Having been on the front lines of the confirmation battles involving Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, I know firsthand what is at stake…

— Wendy Long

Nominees [to Supreme Court] shouldn't be expected to pre-commit to ruling on certain issues in a certain way. Nor should senators ask nominees to…

— Chuck Grassley

How Obama approaches judicial selection - and how Republicans respond - now becomes an important story and will remain so until the Senate shuts…

— Terry Eastland

The threat to change Senate rules is a raw abuse of power and will destroy the very checks and balances our founding fathers put…

— Harry Reid

We respect the role of the Senate. We respect the authority of the Senate to look at the qualifications of Judge Roberts, and at…

— Alberto Gonzales

In recent years, even as the court has become an increasingly political body, the Senate is not focused on preserving any perceived ideological balance…

— Sam Brownback

We must remember that judicial nominees are constrained in what they may discuss and how they may discuss it.

— Orrin Hatch