Read Barack Obama's Thank You Note to Mark Kirk for Meeting With Supreme Court Nominee

Setting aside partisan politics last week, Republican Sen. Mark Kirk met with Supreme Court nominee and Lincolnwood native Merrick Garland on March 29.

That meeting might not have pleased fellow GOP members like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel, who has adamantly said he will not hold nomination hearings for President Barack Obama's choice to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the high court.

But Kirk's gesture did impress Obama, who sent the senator a thank you note. Kirk posted a photo of what appears to be a handwritten note from the president on his Twitter account.

"Thank you for your fair and treatment of Merrick Garland," the note reads. "It upholds the institutional values of the Senate, and helps preserves the bipartisan ideals of an independent judiciary."

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Obama will be in Chicago on Thursday afternoon to discuss Garland's nomination at the University of Chicago Law School with students and faculty.

Kirk also circulated a one-page memo Wednesday that discussed his meeting with Garland, which he described as "a positive conversation," the New York Times reports. He also urged his fellow Republicans to meet with the nominee, something Kirk has been asking his colleagues to do since mid-March.

Kirk is up for re-election in November, facing a tough fight with U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth.