“It is the duty of the Senate, under the Constitution, to give our advice and give our consent or withhold our consent”, said Collins to CNN on Monday. In 2006 a virtual who’s who of leading Senate Democrats, including Biden, Harry Reid, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and even Barack Obama himself, all voted to filibuster Republican Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito in a failed attempt to delay and derail Alito’s confirmation.
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Firing back, Republicans highlighted June 1992 remarks by Vice President Joe Biden, who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time. “He should go a step further, however, and demand Senators McConnell and Grassley end their obstruction and hold hearings and allow a vote on a nominee”.
McConnell’s assertion that the president elected this November should nominate the replacement has drawn support from almost all Republicans and irate, solid opposition from Democrats.
Biden’s speech came to light on Monday as White House officials said Obama was poring through a thick binder of potential nominees, with an eye toward deciding on his pick within weeks. “That is very different than saying every nominee receives a vote”, said Reid.
“And, I believe, in his heart of hearts, he (Biden) understands why it must”, said Grassley, R-Iowa.
“Some critics say that one excerpt of my speech is evidence that I oppose filling a Supreme Court vacancy in an election year”, Biden said in a statement. “FULL AND ROBUST DEBATE” The Republican committee members wrote that they wanted “to ensure the American people are not deprived of the opportunity to engage in a full and robust debate over the type of jurist they wish to decide some of the most critical issues of our time”.
Even the most divisive nominees for the high court have received a hearing before the Judiciary Committee, and the election-year decision to deny such a session is a sharp break with the Senate’s traditional “advise and consent” role.
Antonin Scalia’s February 13 death ignited a major fight in Washington over whether Obama should be able to replace him in a presidential election year.
“I’m pleased Senator Kirk has chosen under pressure to do the right thing and support the president’s constitutional duty to nominate a Supreme Court nominee”, Duckworth said in a statement.
A few Republicans are backing the president’s call.
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Led by McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, a broad majority of his Senate colleagues declared that the next election should determine whether a Republican or Democratic president should fill the vacancy. The danger may be greatest for Republican senators up for reelection this year in purple states, including the subjects of the PPP survey, Sens.
