Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Sunday appealed to Republican senators to “please follow your conscience” and avoid pushing through a Supreme Court nominee before the election.
In a speech from Philadelphia, the former vice president directed his plea to “the handful” of Republican senators “who really will decide what happens” with the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death on Friday.
“Don’t vote to confirm anyone nominated under the circumstances President Trump and Sen. McConnell have created,” Biden advised. “Don’t go there. Hold your constitutional duty, your conscience. Let the people speak. Cool the flames that have been engulfing our country.”
Biden said he was not “being naive” by directing his speech at President Trump or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) but instead talking to Senate Republicans “who know deep down what is right for the country and consistent with the Constitution.”
Biden used his speech to condemn McConnell’s decision to commit to a vote on President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, expected to be announced this week.
“To jam this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power, and I don’t believe the people of this nation will stand for it,” he said.
The Democratic candidate echoed his Friday comments saying that any Supreme Court nomination from President Trump should be withdrawn if the former vice president wins the election.
“If Donald Trump wins the election, then the Senate should move on his selection and weigh the nominee he chooses fairly,” the former vice president said.
“But if I win this election, President Trump’s nominee should be withdrawn,” he added. “As the new president, I should be the one who nominates Justice Ginsburg’s successor.”
Biden concluded by saying “the last thing” the country needs ahead of the presidential election is “a constitutional crisis that plunges us deeper into the abyss, deeper into the darkness.”
“If we go down this path, I predict it will cause irreversible damage,” he said. “The infection this president has unleashed on this democracy can be fatal. Enough. Enough. Enough. We must come together as a nation.”
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JUST IN: Biden says Trump Supreme Court nominee should be withdrawn if he wins election https://t.co/0xaPNPaOAB pic.twitter.com/lgPWoCqs7q
— The Hill (@thehill) September 20, 2020
I don’t think the practice of waiting till after the election is constitutionally mandated, but rather, it was an excuse used by McConnell to derail Merrick Garland’s nomination during the last year of Obama’s reign. It is certainly hypocritical of the Republicans to disregard their own practice in this situation.
The one concern I have this time is that the election results will be contested and the litigation resulting therefrom will drag on for months. If Little Donnie loses, I can see a major problem dragging him out of the White House in January. In all that time and beyond, there will be only eight justices. How would that situation be dealt with? Will SCOTUS have to hold all matters in abeyance till a new justice is seated? This could create a nightmarish backlog for the court and a real problem if the court decides to make judgments with only eight jurists.
The next several months are going to be really interesting. I think I will take to my bed, pull the covers over me and lie there in the dark.
There isn’t any constitutional mandate for the number of justices. It has been as few as six and as many as 10 over the years. The number is determined by congress. So in other words, if the GOP wants to play hardball they better hope they don’t lose the Senate and the Presidency. Biden and the Dems could decide to pack the court by passing a bill to increase the number of Justices and have President Biden sign it. Then he could nominate judges that he chooses. A replacement isn’t necessary for the court to function. So the GOP should be careful. Things aren’t looking so good for Donald Trump. They may end up losing the election and having the court swing in the other direction under President Biden.
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