Martin Sheen Targets Senator for Backing GOP in SCOTUS Block
Sheen recorded a robocall that was sent to Wisconsin voters.
— -- President Josiah Barlet -- or at least the actor that played him on "The West Wing" -- is back in the thick of things in Washington.
Martin Sheen, who played President Barlet on the hit show, recorded a robocall criticizing Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson for supporting Republicans' plans to stop President Obama from filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
"Our Constitution is very clear about what happens when a vacancy occurs on the Supreme Court. It says the president shall nominate a new judge, and that the Senate will give that nominee fair consideration," Sheen said in the recorded message.
The call, on behalf of the liberal group People for the American Way, urges Wisconsin activists and voters to call Johnson's Senate office and "tell him you expect him to put his Constitutional duties first and give fair consideration to President Obama’s nominee."
Following Scalia's death, Johnson said that the "American people should decide the future direction of the Supreme Court by their votes for president and the majority party in the U.S. Senate."
In a radio interview earlier this week in Wisconsin, Johnson, who is up for reelection in November, said that he wasn't ruling out a Senate vote, but added that "doing nothing is still an action."
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an interview earlier this week that he would wait to see who Obama nominates before deciding whether to hold hearings on the nominee.
People for the American Way is also planning additional robocalls targeting other Republican senators up for reelection who have come out against confirming Obama's nominee.
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