A majority of Americans say they want the U.S. Senate to vote on President Barack Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, and see the Republican interference in the process as politically motivated, according to a new poll.
The latest CBS News/New York Times survey, released Tuesday, found that 53 percent of Americans believe the Senate should vote on whether to confirm Judge Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court. Most of those respondents were Democrats, while two-thirds of Republicans are opposed, and independents are divided.
However, regardless of how they feel about the vote itself, 70 percent of Americans—including a small majority of Republicans—say they believe the GOP is refusing to hold hearings on Garland's nomination because of political reasons, rather than for the good of the country.
As for the public's view of Garland himself, "not surprisingly, few have formed an opinion of Judge Garland, who was nominated less than a week ago and is on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit," the Times writes.
The poll comes shortly after protesters throughout the country on Monday held demonstrations calling on senators to "do their jobs" and hold a nomination hearing.
Activist groups including MoveOn.org and CREDO Action organized rallies in states represented by Republican senators. On Twitter, the actions were updated under the hashtag #DoYourJob.
Americans are raising their voices all over the country and saying: #DoYourJob pic.twitter.com/ngEqH8Rlww
— Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) March 21, 2016
Amy Brundage, an organizer with the nonprofit Constitutional Responsibility Project, told the Washington Post, "These events will make it crystal clear that senators will be held accountable by their constituents if they continue to shirk their constitutional responsibility and ignore the will of the overwhelming majority of the American people."
Murshed Zaheed, head of CREDO Action, said in a statement Monday, "Senate Republicans don't get to subvert the constitution and refuse to do their jobs just because they don't like President Obama."
