Politicians, notable figures react to Merrick Garland Supreme Court nomination

President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he was nominating federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy created when Justice Antonin Scalia passed away last month.

The announcement prompted reactions from politicians and notable figures but also from institutions like Harvard, Garland's alma mater.

Republicans have said the appointment should be left to whoever is elected as Obama's successor. Notably, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had previously stated he would refuse to hold a hearing should the president make a nomination, reiterated those sentiments Wednesday.

"It is a president's constitutional right to nominate a Supreme Court justice and it is the Senate's constitutional right to act as a check on a president and withhold its consent," he said on the Senate floor soon after the announcement.

Democrats, on the other hand, said that Senate Republicans were consulted before the nomination was made. They are using the hashtag #DoYourJob in a call for an approval hearing to be held by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Here are highlights of what's being said about the nomination on both sides of the aisle.

Republicans

Democrats