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Politics

McConnell: “Highly unlikely” Biden would get Supreme Court pick confirmed

Headshot of <span class="author-name text-name1">Alex Peebles</span>
Alex Peebles Reporter
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Speaking to a conservative radio show host Monday, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Joe Biden would most likely not get a Supreme Court pick confirmed in 2024 if Republicans take over the Senate in 2022.

“I don’t think either party, if it were different from the president, would confirm a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of an election,” Senator McConnell said.

While no one has announced plans to step down, there have been calls from the left for 82-year-old Justice Stephen G. Breyer to retire before the 2022 midterms, so Democrats can appoint a successor while they still control the Senate and the presidency.

In 2016, McConnell and the then-majority Republican Senate blocked then-Democratic President Barack Obama’s pick to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died just under nine months before Election Day.

Former President Donald Trump ended up filling the seat, appointing Justice Neil Gorsuch the next year.

In 2020, the same majority Republican Senate helped former President Trump appoint Justice Amy Coney Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Some have called Justice Barrett’s appointment hypocritical on McConnell’s part, given the blocking of now-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2016.

“What was different in 2020 was we were of the same party as the president,” McConnell told said. “And that’s why we went ahead with it.”

McConnell went onto say Supreme Court vacancies have not been filled during an election year by a Senate of the opposite party of the president since the 1880s.

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Gwen Baumgardner: A BIT PREMATURE — BUT DEBATE IS HEATING UP OVER A SUPREME COURT VACANCY THAT DOESN’T EXIST YET.
IN A RADIO SHOW INTERVIEW — REPUBLICAN SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL SAID PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN WOULD *NOT GET A NOMINEE CONFIRMED IN 20-24… IF REPUBLICANS TAKE OVER THE SENATE NEXT YEAR.
DOES ALL THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?
BACK IN 20-16 — MCCONNELL AND THE REPUBLICAN LED SENATE BLOCKED PRESIDENT OBAMA FROM FILLING A VACANCY ABOUT 9 MONTHS OUT FROM ELECTION DAY.
BUT FOUR YEARS LATER — THAT SAME REPUBLICAN LED SENATE HELPED PRESIDENT TRUMP FILL A VACANCY LESS THAN 6 WEEKS BEFORE ELECTION DAY.
THE NUANCE IS THAT WE DON’T KNOW WHAT A DEMOCRATIC LED SENATE WOULD DO.
MCCONNELL QUALIFIES HIS POINT.
QUOTE — “I DON’T THINK EITHER PARTY, IF IT WERE DIFFERENT FROM THE PRESIDENT, WOULD CONFIRM A SUPREME COURT NOMINEE IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ELECTION.”
IN CASE YOUR WONDERING – WE DON’T EXPECT ANOTHER SUPREME COURT OPENING.
BUT — THERE HAVE BEEN CALLS FROM THE LEFT FOR 82-YEAR-OLD JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER TO RETIRE BEFORE THE MIDTERMS.
THIS — SO HE CAN BE REPLACED, IN CASE DEMOCRATS LOSE THEIR SLIM MAJORITY IN THE SENATE.