(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Some Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee want President Biden to rush the vetting process for choosing his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to help speed things up and give Democrats a win heading into the Midterm elections.
Democrats only hold the “majority” in the 50/50 Senate because of Vice President “Tie-Breaking Vote.” That leaves them no wiggle room in the confirmation process.
Unfortunately for them, one of their 50 Senators, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico suffered a stroke and will likely be unavailable for four to six weeks. There is no way Democrats will move ahead with the confirmation process when they only have 49 votes to work with.
But when Luján returns, they want to be able to hit the ground running and get Biden’s pick confirmed.
After meeting with President Biden last Thursday, Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said that he wants to get this confirmation underway as soon as possible.
This sentiment was shared by Connecticut Senator Dick Blumenthal, another member of the Judiciary Committee, who said Biden should move “as promptly as possible,” adding “time is really urgent.”
Biden has said he plans to pick his nominee by the end of this month.
But for Democrats, desperate to pick up some momentum heading into the Midterm elections, time is of the essence. And if the only way to get that momentum is to abbreviate the vetting process, they’re more than happy to do it.
Of course, skipping a thorough vetting could set up potential landmines for the eventual nominee, as Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are probably carefully vetting each of the possible choices for any potential problems.
And while the Republicans can’t ultimately block the confirmation, they can slow the process down.
Judiciary member Republican Josh Hawley warned last month that Republicans on the committee won’t be inclined to let the nominee zip through the vetting process. Given the even split in the Senate, Hawley said, Democrats aren’t “going to be able to ramrod anybody through.”
