Republicans on Monday gleefully circulated grainy video of Biden laying out his thoughts on the Senate floor.
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Kirk wrote in a Chicago Sun-Times opinion piece that he recognized the right of any president to choose a Supreme Court nominee and he looked forward to Obama picking one for the Senate to consider for confirmation.
“Nearly a quarter century ago, in June 1992, I gave a lengthy speech on the Senate floor about a hypothetical vacancy on the Supreme Court”, he said in the statement.
Still, it was more than enough to fuel the elaborate game of gotcha playing out in Washington.
“If someone steps down, I would highly recommend the President not name someone, not send a name up”, Biden, then the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, told the newspaper, noting how close it was to the November elections.
“I will say one thing has changed dramatically, which is the Supreme Court vacancy and it will reshape the race on my side because I’d rather lose an election than lose the Supreme Court”, he said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Biden pointed to the later section of the speech, where he “urged the Senate and White House to work together to overcome partisan differences to ensure the Court functions as the Founding Fathers intended”. He said that remains his position. “The Senate’s role in providing advice and consent is as important and significant as the president’s role in proposing a nominee”. McConnell afterward said the Republican-led Senate, which must confirm any nominee, will refuse to consider any Obama selection to replace Scalia.
The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has ignited a political firestorm over the future of the U.S. Supreme Court.
While GOP lawmakers weigh their options, conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt signaled that many in the party’s base are willing to pay any price to keep a liberal off the bench.
As Chairman, Biden repeatedly confirmed Bush’s judicial nominees during the 1992 election season. Obama had about 340 days left in his term when Scalia died February 13.
“That is what is fair to the nominee and essential to the process”, he added.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid condemned McConnell’s attitude as “obstruction on steroids”.
Supreme Court justices are appointed for life and the body’s rulings can powerfully influence the treatment of major social issues in America.
McConnell of Kentucky said the “overwhelming view” of Republicans is that the vacancy should not be filled “by this lame-duck president”. The Senate has frequently avoided recesses to prevent Obama from making appointments without its approval. “That is very different than saying every nominee receives a vote”.
The Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) released a survey Monday showing the political peril of objecting to any nominee Obama may put forward, as leading Senate Republicans have indicated they will do. “The duties of the United States Senate are set forth in the Constitution of the United States”. – Reid, in a statement after Scalia’s death.
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In a closing shot, Grassley said if Obama makes a nomination, as is expected, Biden, “the man who sat at a desk across the aisle and at the back of the chamber for more than 35 years, knows what the Senate should do”. “I disagree with this view.” – then-Sen.
