There is one seat left on the US Supreme Court. Republican Mitch McConnell could block Joe Biden’s nominee – as before.
WASHINGTON DC – After US Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer announced his resignation on Thursday (01/27/2022), there are movements from all sides to influence the election of his successor. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has already made it clear that he will use his power on the issue — re-enacting one of Democrats’ greatest traumas.
During his election campaign, US President Joe Biden had already promised to nominate a black woman for the first time in the event of a new appointment to the US Supreme Court. Biden repeated this promise as a result of Breyer’s departure, as the Reuters news agency reported, although the first candidates are already in the room. Influential donors and politicians, both from the Democratic and Republican side, suggested their favorite judges, as reported by the New York Times. At the same time, Biden’s announcement caused displeasure, especially among conservatives.
Joe Biden wants to nominate black woman for Supreme Court: displeasure among conservatives
The right-wing magazine National Review wrote that the president had disqualified “dozens of liberal and progressive lawyers on no grounds other than their race and gender. That’s not a good start to picking someone who’s sworn to uphold equal justice before the law.” On the Democrat side, on the other hand, the plan to seat the first black woman on the US Supreme Court bench is seen as designated historically.
Mitch McConnell also released a statement regarding the announcement that Biden is seeking a new Supreme Court justice. In it, the 79-year-old wrote, “The American people have elected a Senate that is split evenly 50:50. If President Biden has been given a mandate, it is to rule from the center, to manage our institutions, and to unite America.” McConnell urged that Biden not offload the election to the “radical left.”
US Supreme Court nomination pending: what can Mitch McConnell do?
Observers were immediately reminded of Barack Obama’s second term in office, whose election to the Supreme Court was blocked by McConnell until Donald Trump took office. However, while McConnell’s Republicans then controlled the US Senate, which determines the nominees, the situation is different this time. Democrats could elect a female candidate to office without relying on Republican votes. That rule is based on a change McConnell himself made to make it easier for Trump to nominate judges, the New York Times reports.
Still, McConnell would only have to convince one of the 48 Democratic and two independent senators to vote against Biden’s nominee to block the election. The 79-year-old told reporters on Thursday that he would give a nominee a “fair chance”. (vbu)
