POTUS announces his SCOTUS nominee

<> POTUS announces his SCOTUS nominee at 11am ET - President Obama reminds that, "Since 1875, every Supreme Court nominee has received a Senate hearing or a vote." [See also @SCOTUSnom] President Obama's Supreme Court Nomination - As one of the best appellate judges in the country, Chief Judge Merrick Garland is the most qualified person to immediately serve on the Supreme Court. President Obama  Announces Merrick Garland As Supreme Court Nominee - Federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland is President Obama's pick to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, NPR has learned -- age 63, now the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Obama Nominates Merrick Garland to Supreme Court - Obama picked a man who persevered through a lengthy political battle in the mid-1990s that delayed his own confirmation to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by more than a year. Who Is Merrick Garland? - Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the longest serving Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, offered his own thoughts on who President Obama should nominate to fill the seat left open by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last week -- "[Obama] could easily name Merrick Garland, who is a fine man," Hatch told the conservative news site Newsmax, before adding that "he probably won't do that because this appointment is about the election. So I'm pretty sure he'll name someone the [liberal Democratic base] wants." Link to the President's announcement Link to White House Statements & Releases on the appointment Sierra Club Statement on Nomination of Merrick Garland to Supreme Court NRDC: Supreme Court Nominee Deserves Fair Hearing, Consideration