McConnell Refuses to Rule Out GOP Blockade of a Biden SCOTUS Nominee
© REUTERS / Elizabeth Frantz
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After the February 2016 death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) notoriously declared that the chamber would not consider any of US President Barack Obama's nominees. GOP senators and McConnell, who said the decision belonged to Obama's successor, refused to hold hearings on the matter.
During a recent interview with Politico, the Senate minority leader was asked whether he would opt to "mount a blockade" against a Supreme Court nominee set forth by US President Joe Biden.
"Cross those bridges when I get there, we are focusing on ‘22,” McConnell told the outlet, referring to the upcoming 2022 midterm elections.
The hypothetical situation is framed within the context of the GOP regaining control of the US Senate in 2022. The upper body of the US government is presently divided 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.
"I don’t rule anything in or out about how to handle nominations if I’m in the majority position," the Senate minority leader added.
In June, McConnell told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he does not believe members of either political party would move to confirm a Supreme Court nominee in 2024.
"I don't think either party if it controlled, if it were different from the president, would confirm a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of an election," the Senate Minority Leader said.
Talk of a potential vacancy on the high court comes just days after Stephen Breyer, an 83-year-old justice on the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), expressed that he does not want to die in office like other lifetime appointees, such as the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
"I don't live on Pluto, which means I do stay, I think, aware of what happens in the country the best I can," Breyer told CNN's Fareed Zakaria during a September 19 interview broadcast.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and other Democrats have been vocal in calling for Breyer's retirement. The US senator from Minnesota took her comments a step further earlier this month, urging the associate justice to make his exit "sooner rather than later," if he is truly concerned about the high court's future.
"I believe if he is seriously considering retirement, and he has said he would do it based on not only his own health but also the future of the court, if this decision doesn't cry out for that, I don't know what does," Klobuchar remarked on September 5.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar renews her call for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to retire “sooner rather than later,” telling @DanaBashCNN that the court’s decision allowing Texas’ restrictive anti-abortion law to stand adds urgency. pic.twitter.com/zRlQwjZmyM
— CNN (@CNN) September 5, 2021
Breyer, in addition to being the oldest serving member of the Supreme Court, is also the most senior liberal on the high court, which is at present notably skewed with a 6-3 conservative majority.
Democrats are concerned that the unbalanced political leaning of the Supreme Court does not accurately mirror the American public's view on several issues, including abortion, gun rights, affirmative action and election/voting legislation.
