New Jersey Governor Chris Christie did not hold back his frustration and level of patience when he slammed Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) on Tuesday Jan. 29, 2013, for not giving his nominees for the State Supreme Court a confirmation hearing on the Senate floor, calling Sweeney’s actions “irresponsible and cowardice.”
Christie, not known for mincing words stated “I have to tell you, I think that what the Senate President is doing is reprehensible. I have nominated two extraordinarily well qualified people to the Supreme Court. I have compromised by not nominating two Republicans, but nominating one Republican and one Independent. I have nominated the first Asian-American, if he were to serve on the court, to also address their calls for more diversity on the court and the Senate President stands in the door of the Judiciary Committee and refuses to give these two extraordinarily well qualified men the courtesy of a hearing.”
Christie didn’t stop there, “members of the Judiciary Committee haven't even returned their phone calls. The Senate President needs to start doing his job. He needs to stand up and do what the constitution requires him to do, which is to hold a hearing and give these people an up or down vote. Steve Sweeney knows how this should work and this is cowardice. Not to give these gentlemen a hearing and it's disrespectful to the role the court plays in our state and it's disrespectful of the authority of the Governor under the constitution to not even give the Governor's nominees a fair hearing. They can vote however they want to vote, I can't tell them how to vote as was evident from my last two nominees. But to sit and do nothing now is just unacceptable.”
“The Senate President is abrogating his duties and responsibilities. He's running around playing politics. How about taking a couple of minutes to actually do your job? And this is on him. If he wanted to hold these hearings he could order them to be held tomorrow. He hasn't done it and I'm starting to lose my patience” Christie said.
The two latest nominees who were nominated by Christie on Dec. 10, 2012, are Board of Public Utilities President Robert Hanna and Superior Court Judge David Baumann. Christie has locked horns with the democratic controlled legislature since he refused to reappoint Justice John Wallace Jr., the Supreme Court's only African American.
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