It was reported by ConservativeBrief that as reports noted earlier this week, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, a Bill Clinton nominee, is planning to step down, news that created a flurry of speculation as to who President Joe Biden will nominate to replace him.But according to a report published Wednesday, thanks to a backroom deal, Senate Minority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) could theoretically stop Biden’s nominees from ever receiving a vote.
Under the current Senate rules, the ‘nuclear option’ is in play for all judicial nominees; that is, any of them can be appointed with a simple majority vote.
In the current 50-50 Senate, that means all Democrats would have to support the nominee and if no Republicans did, then Vice President Kamala Harris, as president of the chamber, would serve as the tie-breaker, giving the nominee 51 votes.
But that only occurs if the nominee makes it to the floor for a full vote, and for that to happen, the Senate Judiciary Committee would have to vote to advance the nominee to the full chamber.
“But the nuclear option can go into motion only if the Judiciary Committee reports the nomination to the floor, a procedural move that says whether a majority on the committee recommends the full Senate consider the pick,” TIME Magazine reported.
“Well, in a little-noticed backroom deal that took more than a month to hammer out, McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to a power-sharing plan in February that splits committee membership, staffs, and budgets in half,” the magazine continued.
“If all 11 Republican members of the Judiciary Committee oppose Biden’s pick and all 11 Democrats back her, the nomination goes inert. The nomination doesn’t die, but it does get parked until a lawmaker—historically, the Leader of the party—brings it to the floor for four hours of debate,” the report added.
