--- title: GOP Senator Mark Kirk will Meet Merrick Garland description: Sen. Mark Kirk is up for a tough re-election in Illinois canonical: https://time.com/4272771/mark-kirk-merrick-garland/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-25T20:53:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:14:21.354Z article:section: Politics og:title: GOP Senator Mark Kirk Will Meet Merrick Garland og:description: In an apparent break with party leadership og:url: https://time.com/4272771/mark-kirk-merrick-garland/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01eeb891256425f5/69888c9cf887dc680de9535c/gettyimages-187012193.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Holds Hearing On The Rights Of People With Disabilities og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: GOP Senator Mark Kirk Will Meet Merrick Garland twitter:description: In an apparent break with party leadership twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01eeb891256425f5/69888c9cf887dc680de9535c/gettyimages-187012193.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Illinois Senator First in GOP to Meet Merrick Garland  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Mar 25, 2016 8:53 PM UTC  U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) (L) and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2013 ( Mark Wilson--Getty Images) U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) (L) and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2013 ( Mark Wilson--Getty Images)Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Mar 25, 2016 8:53 PM UTC Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill) will meet with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland next week, the White House [confirmed ](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mark-kirk-will-become-first-gop-senator-to-meet-with-merrick-garland/)Friday, making him the first Senate Republican to take steps to consider the nominee, in defiance of party leadership. Sen. Kirk, who is up for [a tough re-election battle](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/mark-kirk-senate-2016-republicans-illinois-215070) this year, agreed to meet with Garland despite the fact that GOP Senate leadership has vowed not to hold hearings or hold a vote on any candidate President Obama nominates to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court. Sen. Kirk is one of [several](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/24/us/politics/patrick-toomey-pennsylvania-senator-meet-merrick-garland.html?%5Fr=0) Senate Republicans who said they would meet with Garland, but he is the first to schedule a meeting. He will meet with the nominee next Tuesday, according to the[ Chicago Sun-Times](http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/sen-mark-kirk-to-meet-with-u-s-supreme-court-nominee-tuesday/), which broke the story. Garland, a Chicago native, grew up in Lincolnwood, Ill. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4272771/mark-kirk-merrick-garland/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4272771/mark-kirk-merrick-garland/"},"headline":"Illinois Senator First in GOP to Meet Merrick Garland","datePublished":"2016-03-25T20:53:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:14:21.354Z","description":"Sen. 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