Chief Justice Roberts decried blocking judicial nominations in 2010

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in 2010 decried Congress for blocking judicial nominees, calling it a “persistent problem” in his year-end report of the federal judiciary.

“Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of judicial nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes,” he wrote at the time.

{mosads}The remarks came as Roberts requested funding from Congress for the court as part of its annual budget request.

Justice Antonin Scalia died on Saturday, igniting a partisan fight over whether the GOP Senate should consider a replacement nominated by President Obama or hold off until after the presidential election.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Republicans said the next president should be the one to choose Scalia’s successor. This would allow voters to have a decision on the court, McConnell argued. 

Democrats say the Senate should consider a nominee from Obama and note that he has nearly a year left in office.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday said he hasn’t made a decision about whether to hold a confirmation hearing for a nominee from Obama.

“I would wait until the nominee is made before I would make any decisions. … In other words, take it a step at a time,” he told reporters in Iowa, according to Radio Iowa.

On Saturday, Grassley said it was “standard practice” for the Senate not to confirm Supreme Court nominees during an election year.