Judgments on President Obama's nomination of D.C. Appeals Court Chief Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court were handed down quickly from the Hill and elsewhere, including one by Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley, who doubled down on his position that no hearing on a Supreme Court nominee would be held in an election year.

“Today the president has exercised his constitutional authority," Grassley said. "A majority of the Senate has decided to fulfill its constitutional role of advice and consent by withholding support for the nomination during a presidential election year, with millions of votes having been cast in highly charged [primary] contests."

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said it was the president's right to nominate a Justice, and the Senate's to act as a "check." That, in his view, means not holding court nominee hearings this year. McConnell said the choice of Judge Garland was not because the president thought he would be confirmed, but to politicize the process.

"With two decades of federal court experience, Garland is fully prepared for all of the responsibilities he will face as our next Supreme Court justice -- no matter how Senate Republicans try to spin it," said Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

Online activist group Demand Progress said it was disappointed the president didn't nominate a more progressive judge and was withholding judgment on Garland, but called on Republicans to hold a hearing.

"It's disappointing that President Obama missed the opportunity to solidify his legacy by appointing a true progressive to the Supreme Court," the group said. "As Demand Progress and other organizations determine whether we can support this nomination, one thing is clear: Senate Republicans must do their jobs under the constitution and move without delay to give Merrick Garland a fair hearing."

Brad Woodhouse, president of Americans United for Change, which has been pushing to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia this year, said: "President Obama has met his constitutional responsibility and has put forward a nominee for the Supreme Court with impeccable credentials and qualifications. The President has done his job; it's time for Senate Republicans to stop playing politics and do theirs and give Judge Garland fair consideration for a seat on the Supreme Court."

Wade Henderson, president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said: “In choosing Chief Judge Garland to fill this vacancy, President Obama has demonstrated his commitment to the constitution and our democracy to make sure that the Supreme Court is fully equipped to serve our nation with its full complement of nine justices. Judge Garland is the most well-prepared Supreme Court nominee in generations."

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), ranking member of the Senate Communications Subcommittee, said: “Chief Judge Garland is widely respected by legal experts from across the political spectrum and has a real shot at earning bipartisan support in the Senate. It’s time to end the political gamesmanship and do the job that the American people elected us to do."

REACTION:Grassley: Judiciary Won't Hold Hearing on Merrick This Year

Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which has primary jurisdiction over FCC-related legal challenges, has been nominated by President Obama to succeed Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.

Media attorneys could not immediately cite any big FCC-related cases Garland had written. The president noted that as deputy attorney general, Garland supervised "every aspect of the federal response" to the Oklahoma City bombing,

Garland is from Obama's hometown of Chicago and has taught at the president's alma mater, Harvard Law (the judge is a graduate of Harvard as well). He clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan from 1979 to 1981.

Garland joined the D.C. Court in April 1997 and was named chief judge in February 2013. The president said that in his 19 years on the circuit, Garland had brought "diligence, passion and an unwavering regard for the rule of law."

The President also said Garland, putting himself through Harvard, had taken several jobs and had to sell his comic book collection.

"Been there," said the President, with obvious sadness and to general laughter.

Obama also called Garland a passionate defender of the First Amendment.

The president said he did not take his responsibility lightly and said he had sought input from both Republicans and Democrats. He called Garland one of the nation's sharpest legal minds admired on both sides of the aisle.

Notwithstanding, Republicans have said they will not hold hearings on the president's nominee, or any nominee, before the election.

President Obama said he recognized it has been a noisy and volatile political season, but added: "The Supreme Court is supposed to be above politics. It has to be."

Garland will travel to the Hill Thursday to talk with legislators. The president called again for a hearing, and an up-or-down vote.

"I have fulflilled my Constitutional duty," he said. "It is time for the Senate to do theirs."

An emotional Garland called his nomination the highest honor of his life, and said there was no higher public service than a seat on the high court. He also said that as a Supreme Court Justice, he would follow the law, not make it.

He said he knew his mother was watching on television and "crying her eyes out."