--- title: Poll: Americans Want Merrick Garland Supreme Court Hearing description: A survey released Friday finds that some two-thirds of Americans support a confirmation hearing for Garland. canonical: https://time.com/4272267/poll-americans-support-merrick-garland-supreme-court-hearing/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-25T16:24:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:18.214Z article:section: Politics og:title: Poll: Americans Want Hearings for Obama Supreme Court Nominee og:description: A survey released Friday finds that some two-thirds of Americans support a confirmation hearing for Garland. og:url: https://time.com/4272267/poll-americans-support-merrick-garland-supreme-court-hearing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt147d697855a1cc61/69888b4c196cf4444203ac61/obama-merick-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: obama-merick-biden og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Poll: Americans Want Hearings for Obama Supreme Court Nominee twitter:description: A survey released Friday finds that some two-thirds of Americans support a confirmation hearing for Garland. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt147d697855a1cc61/69888b4c196cf4444203ac61/obama-merick-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Americans Want Hearings for Obama Supreme Court Nominee, Poll Says by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Mar 25, 2016 4:24 PM UTC  President Obama, Vice President Biden and Judge Merrick B. Garland in the Rose Garden at the White House, on March 16, 2016. President Obama, Vice President Biden and Judge Merrick B. Garland in the Rose Garden at the White House, on March 16, 2016.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Mar 25, 2016 4:24 PM UTC The majority of Americans want the Senate to consider President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, according to a [new poll](http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/25/politics/merrick-garland-supreme-court-nominee/index.html). A CNN/ORC poll released Friday found that some two-thirds of Americans surveyed want the Senate to hold confirmation hearings for [Merrick Garland](http://time.com/4261526/merrick-garland-supreme-court-senate-3/), who Obama nominated to [replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia](http://time.com/4236982/supreme-court-next-trial/). Most Republicans surveyed disagree with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who, along with other Senate GOP members, has said [the Senate will not hold hearings for an Obama nominee](http://time.com/4261973/mcconnell-senate-gop-merrick-garland-supreme-court/). Some 55% of Republicans said the Senate should hold hearings, along with 67% of Democrats. A majority of those polled also said Obama should select the next justice (57%), but those views are divided by party with 85% of Democrats backing the president and only 26% of Republicans. Americans were more split on what Congress should do after the hearings. A narrow majority (52%) said Garland should be confirmed, 33% said the Senate should reject his nomination, and another 15% were unsure. One thing everyone could agree on was a dissatisfaction with legislators. The Congressional approval rate hit 15%, a near all-time low for CNN polling. That number is down six points since February, but still above the 10% low in September 2013 before a partial government shutdown. The poll was conducted via telephone March 17-20 using a random sample of 1001 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4272267/poll-americans-support-merrick-garland-supreme-court-hearing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4272267/poll-americans-support-merrick-garland-supreme-court-hearing/"},"headline":"Americans Want Hearings for Obama Supreme Court Nominee, Poll Says","datePublished":"2016-03-25T16:24:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:18.214Z","description":"Many Republicans disagree with the Senate GOP's strategy","url":"https://time.com/4272267/poll-americans-support-merrick-garland-supreme-court-hearing/","keywords":["Supreme Court","Senate","Polls","Mitch McConnell","President Barack Obama","Antonin Scalia","Merrick Garland"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt147d697855a1cc61/69888b4c196cf4444203ac61/obama-merick-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt147d697855a1cc61/69888b4c196cf4444203ac61/obama-merick-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"obama-merick-biden","caption":"WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden walk out of the Oval Office with U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Judge Merrick B. 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