Or do you think Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would make a pick that would best serve the interest of the person sneem our phone lines are open. Democrats can call in at 2027488000. Republicans, 2027488001. Independents, 2027488002. You can also catch up with us on cial media, on twitter and facebook. A very good monday morning to you. Our question, who Supreme Court nominee would you trust the most . Were asking that question during a week in which president obamas nominee is getting renewed attention. President obama himself thought to kick off that effort in his weekly radio address this weekend. Heres what he had to say about garland. E, merrick this president obama refusal to treat our nomination the seriousness it deserves is one reason why people are so cynical in washington. Give judge garland a hearing and give judge garland a vote. For all of our political differences, americans understand that what unites us is far greater than what divides us. In the mill middle of a volatile season, we need to fulfill our duties in good faith as public servants. The Supreme Court must remain above partisan politics. Ive done my job. I nominated someone as qualified as merck garland. Now its time for the senate to do their job. Give judge garland a hearing. Give judge garland an up or down vote. Treat him and our democracy with the respect they deserve. Host democrats are calling this the nine, nine, Nine Campaign and amid that push the president s comments, this story from the Washington Times this morning. Antigarland ad set to air in key states noting the Judicial Crisis Network is highlighting what it calls judge garlands iberal record. Heres one of the latest ads from the Judicial Crisis Network. Well show you that in just a second. Since president obama nominated judge garland nearly seven weeks ago, only two Senate Republicans have come out in support of holding a confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland, fewer than 54 republican senators have agreed to hold courtesy meetings with the nominee. Theres a picture of Circuit Court chief Justice Merrick garland in todays Washington Examiner. Were asking our viewers to weigh in. We want to hear your thoughts on who do you trust the most when it comes to the president s Supreme Court pick. Would it be this president or the future president thats running for the office today . Kathy is up first in cleveland, ohio, a democrat. Good morning. Caller yes, i would like to say that i think we should consider judge garland as being the judge for the Supreme Court. President obama should select the judge simply because he is our president and we cannot afford to have someone be our president when we want him to be and not be our president when we dont want him to be. I think he should make the selection. Thank you. Host kathy, before you go, if its not president obama, if the senate doesnt hold a hearing on his nominee, if a republican wins, who would you trust the most of the current slate of republicans . Would it be a President Trump, a president cruz, a president kasich . Caller no, i would choose well, i would think none of the above simply because i listen to all of the speaking engagements that they have televised and it was said upon the republicans that our economy was doing very well in the 1990s. The republicans came into office which was a surprise to me that he said it, but when the republicans got into office, they spent all the money. So then now we have a democrat in office and hes trying to help us out. So why would i choose someone to go back in the office and make a selection for me when they cant even control their own budget . They spent all the money that was previously put in place in the 1990s . So no, i do not trust them to make a judge appointment for me. Host jacob is waiting, baltimore, maryland. Good morning. Who would you trust the most when it comes to this decision . Caller good morning, thank you, cspan. The sitting president should be the person who chooses the nomination and then the senate should advise and content. If they wanted for the people to have a say and the Supreme Court choices, then they would have written that into the constitution. And its not its been like that for a very good reason. Host the Washington Examiner noted that donald trump is going to debut a list of 10 to 12 Supreme Court nominees very soon quoting Donald Trumps appearance on fox newss hannity program. He said im going to name 10 or 12 judges that i would name to put on the Supreme Court and im only going to take the judges out of that pool of judges because i want people to understand that understand that i want the values in terms of the Republican Party and conservatives. Were asking this morning who would you trust the most . Is it a current president . Is it a potential future president thats running right now . Want to hear your thoughts this morning. Republican, carl is in westfield, virginia. Good morning. Caller good morning. You know, when i see president obama talk about the rule of law, i laugh. Im telling you, its a joke. You see what the democratic for using ion done the better government to punish the federal fellow citizens of the United States. This is outrageous. And now hes telling everybody, u know, dont worry about we wont let him go any farther. When they talk about the rule of law, man, its a joke. Its turned into an absolute joke. Im 78 years old and ive been around here a long time. And i look at this kind of stuff and i think my lord. And the way they went after that woman in texas, they sent four different branches of government down there to harass her, for starting that true vote. All she wanted to do was educate people on poll watching to make sure that the elections were not being stolen. Host so who would you trust when it comes to that ninth seat on the Supreme Court . Who do you want to see make that decision . Caller i would rather see kasich make that decision but thats not going to happen. So that would be my opinion. Host oh, carl, as we said, there are several efforts going on this week both pro and against Merrick Garland, the Circuit Court judge that president obama has nominated. We mentioned the Judicial Crisis Network thats running a slate of ads this weekend. Heres one of the latest ads from the Judicial Crisis Network about Merrick Garland. The n. R. A. Opposes him because the Second Amendment is at stake. Small Business Leaders oppose him because he would harm our fragile economy. Liberals agree he would be the deciding vote for partialabortion. Hes no moderate. America me, obamas Supreme Court nominee. Even the New York Times says garland would create the most liberal Supreme Court in 50 years. Merrick garland, a liberal judge from a liberal president. Host on the issue of guns and how a potential justice garland would vote, theres a column in u. S. A. Today from Michael Hammond of gun owners of america. He talks about this issue. He says Merrick Garland has the simple truth about Merrick Garland is firearms have come before him at least four times and he votes against them each time. Host and in 2012, he voted to allow prosecution for fireman firearm offenses that they knew the gun was automatic. Were talking about the vacancy on the Supreme Court and who you would trust the most. Josh this williamsburg, virginia, a republican. Josh, good morning. Josh, you with us . Caller hi, good morning. Yeah, sorry about that. Good morning. I would trust any republican to make a good Supreme Court nomination. As youve suggested, the stakes are incredibly high. Weve had 54 decisions. You mentioned heller. We have had 54 decisions in that, with that issue as well. T i dont think if any if Hillary Clinton appoints someone, i dont think the senate has another option, as long as the senate is under republican control, i dont think they really have a legitimate option other than testing the limits of the of their consent power under the constitution. I really dont. Because the stakes are incredibly high with this Supreme Court nomination. Host when you talk about the stakes being high, the Supreme Court doing its best to perhaps keep the stakes from being too high when it comes to case that theyre going to be hearing among a split court with just eight justices on it, the Washington Post noted that they accepted six cases since scalia died. The number is low compared to the average. None of these cases that the court has accepted for the term that begins in october approach the level of controversy that has marked the drama rulings of recent years. The story noting that the reluctance boils down to a reluctance of a divided eightmember court to take on an issue that it might not be able to provide a clear answer on. The story noting its easy to detect a slowdown but its difficult to identify which cases which they will be taken. There only speculation of which cases has been skipped. If you want to read more about that, its in the Washington Post. Lets go to lydia, upper marlboro, democratic. Good morning. Caller im just beyond angry. Because the republicans always talk about constitution. They talk about the constitution. This has turned the constitution on its head. I am 79 years old. In my lifetime, when the Supreme Court nominee become a political ootball . Republicans, democratic administration, this has never been an issue. And if this points out anything, the importance of this election, it points out the blacks, the hispanic, women, independents, everybody that have any common sense to register and get out to vote to make sure that the democrat president in the white house and the republicans could never again get a chance to appoint a Supreme Court justice. Thank you. Host lydia weve lost lydia. She hung up. We will go to steve in indianapolis, indiana, also a democrat. Steve, good morning. Caller yeah, good morning. I think obama, he nominated somebody that was more of a moderate. Theyre calling him a liberal, but i think even the republican the republicans know hes more of a moderate and thats why theyve indicated that they thought they would lose this election, that they would go ahead and try to give him a vote. But if hillary or somebody gets in, i hope they nominate somebody thats even more liberal because theyve blocked his vote. So they thought to get what they get. And also trump, i think hes disqualified himself by nominating somebody like clarence thomas. I mean, hes a Supreme Court judge that has no writing. He has no he just sits back and votes and lets everybody else do all the work. Why would you nominate somebody like that . Host when you talk about a more liberal justice, what issues would you like to see a justice be more liberal on than what youve heard about Merrick Garlands record . Caller well, i think hes really fair. I like a moderate person. I dont really like somebody thats too far to the left. I like somebody thats like mr. Garland. But, you know, they ought to get what they get. Im just saying that it ought to serve him right for not giving him the courtesy of a vote. So if hillary or somebody gets in they would want somebody more liberal, then they ought to do that. Teach them a lesson, maybe. Host lets head back to our line for republicans. Tom is up next from florida. Chris is waiting. Youre on the washington journal. Caller good morning. I want to say as usual, the ignorance of the democrats that call in here is just its incredible. E democrats, first of all, blocked ford. They gave him a hearing and they sent him down and it took two more nominations before reagan could get him into office. The democrats said bush did not nominate and im not saying to confirm, im saying nominate someone last year. But when its obama, obama nominated it without a problem. Biden himself said that he should not nominate. Schumer said he should not nominate. Reese came out against it. And its all locks step. And the shoe is on the other foot. And of course they should consider the nomination. Theyve got obama nominated a person. They want the walk to walk and talk the talk, people would give them respect. Bit all the democrats that call up are hypocrites oratory ignorance and they believe whatever theyre told even theyre told the entirely opposite story from one time to the next. Host williams on our line for independents. William, good morning. Caller good morning. Yes, thanks for taking my call. Yes, i agree but i feel we should not even nominate because of our corrupted political system led by two individuals who want to become queen and king of u. S. A. Namely Chuck Grassley and Mitch Mcconnell from kentucky. With them and norquist and the round man, bushs big backer, they should all be tried for treason. Host so you want to see a slit court . You think a 44 split court, an eightjustice court would work for the country . Caller our political system is so corrupt it doesnt matter. And as long as they keep letting all these guys like the ones that i said and a bunch of the Democratic Party also, they shouldnt even have a government. We got a givement. Im 81 years old and it is a disgrace for our country. Host seems like youre criticizing both sides on this. How long have you had caller yes, im criticizing both sides. Host did you ever think our government was not corrupt . Was there ever a time when it was functioning correctly . Caller when harry truman, john f. Kennedy. I have never voted a republican in my life, but i sure intend to this time. If it comes down to where they try to take it away from trump, i will definitely vote republican. Because we got an illegal immigrate or illegal alien running, namely ted cruz who shut the government down how many times . Because hes such a smart individual, he outsmarted himself. Ost thats william in miamisburg, ohio. Julie said if the president twooned pick his successor, he should retire the Bush Administration and Edwin Christian writes if the court set aside personal politics as they were sworn to do, it wouldnt matter which party appointed a justice. For about the next 25 minutes, were asking who Supreme Court nominee would you trust the most . Is it a current president . A potential future president thats running in the primaries right now . Give us a call. Phone lines are open. Lines for democrats, lines for republicans, lines for independents. One other story i want to show you some recent comments about this. A house lawmaker suggested tedy tedy was a possible ted cruz was a possible pick. Saying if hes not our nominee, i think he would be a great eplacement for scalia. Cruz insisted during a cbs news interview earlier in march that becoming a Supreme Court justice is not a job hes interested in it and saying he was more focused on nominating a justice through the court. That story in thehill newspaper if you want to check it out. Tony is from texas, a democrat. Caller im looking at the three possible groups that can be picked. President obama, Hillary Clinton and possibly donald trump. Of those three, i trust president obamas pick more than the other two. Host and why is that, tony . Caller because, you know, Hillary Clinton, i really dont trust her. Im a democrat, but i dont trust hillary. And donald trump, i dont know hat he will put in office. It amazes me ike the previous caller said, as long as the constitution is in there, this is as prescribed by the constitution, the president picks the Supreme Court justices put in a nate vote vote. Yes or no. Its as simple as that. When the constitution this their favor, theyre all for it, you know. Host when you talk about trusting the president and not trusting Hillary Clinton and not trusting donald trump, trust about what . About finding somebody who can be a fair arbiter of justice . About finding somebody who leans a certain way . Caller when im talking about trust for Hillary Clinton, im talking about trust across the board for her. I dont believe much that she says. I really dont. Ive been a lifelong democrat but i just do not trust that woman. And if john kasich ran against Hillary Clinton, he would draw a lot of democratic voters like me to vote republican. And ive been voting republican all my life. But i cant trust hillary and i wont. But between hillary and trump, i would have to vote for hillary. But i dont trust either one of them and trust as far as donald trump goes, i just think hes a big gangster. I really do. I may be wrong but thats my feeling about him. Host lets go to lynn, indi