White House defends Biden SCOTUS comments

Senate Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting Tuesday committed to maximum obstruction of any nominee by President Barack Obama to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court – no hearings and no votes.

“Nowhere in (the Constitution) does it say the Senate has a duty to give presidential appointees a vote”.

A heated political fight has erupted over filling the court’s vacancy left by the February 13 death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, with many top Republicans threatening to block any nominee put forth by the Democratic president. 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. Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, who is responsible for confirmation hearings and a vote to send any nominee to the full Senate, hasn’t made it exactly clear what he will do.

While reading the AP news online Tuesday, Feb. 16, I came across a story that quotes the GOP Senate members ordering President Obama: “don’t bother nominating a candidate for the Supreme Court because we will not approve”.

With the current battle raging over Justice Scalia’s replacement, C-SPAN released a video from 1992 showing then Senator Joe Biden urging President Bush 41 to not nominate a Supreme Court Justice.

Grassley said Biden “was and remains a friend”. As did Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican.

Kirk, perhaps the most at-risk senator in 2016, so far is offering the strongest, most unequivocal GOP Senate opposition to McConnell. After the recent death of Antonin Scalia, Republicans have said presidents in their final year of service shouldn’t appoint someone who will serve for life.

The vice president added that his record chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee for eight years was “hard to beat”.

Republicans controlling the Senate – which must confirm any Obama appointee before the individual is seated on the court – say that the decision is too important to be determined by a lame-duck president. Biden’s speech, there weren’t actually any vacancies on the Supreme Court at the time; there had just been rumors of at least one justice resigning within the next few months. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is adamant that “this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president”.

Fast-forward 24 years, and now Vice President Biden is making the opposite argument, saying the Senate should work with President Obama to determine a nominee.

It shows the ideological and partisan inflexibility on Obama getting the right to name a Supreme Court Justice.

Duckworth issued an additional statement Monday applauding Kirk’s decision and calling for action.

Once the political season is underway…action on a Supreme Court nomination must be put off until after the election campaign is over.

“But I believe that so long as the public continues to split its confidence between the branches [referring to the Republican White House vs. the Democrat-controlled Senate], compromise is the responsible course both for the White House and for the Senate”.