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Durbin On Trump's Supreme Court Nominee: 'Firebrands Need Not Apply'

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said he wants to see President Trump's Supreme Court nominee get a fair hearing, something President Obama's choice never got.

Durbin recalls with some anger that Senate Republicans blocked a hearing on Merrick Garland, Obama's choice for the vacant Supreme Court seat. But he said he's not looking to get even.

"Well of course I have this in the back of my mind, it was fundamentally unfair," Durbin said. "But we have a responsibility beyond political fairness. We have responsibility to the constitution. Let's look at this in honest terms, let's look at the person in honest terms."

Still, the Senate's second most powerful Democrat fired a warning shot, saying the nominee should be moderate and that a firebrand from the left or the right need not apply in his judgement.

This suggests democratic resistance if the President's nominee is from the far right.

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