How the GOP could play dirty with Feinstein’s successor to block Biden’s judges

WASHINGTON – The death of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) It means a series of changes in the Senate, one of which is filling its vacant seat on the Judiciary Committee.

Once California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) names Feinstein’s successor, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will need to amend the chamber’s organizing resolution to add the new senator to the committees on which Feinstein served. These resolutions typically pass on the Senate floor with unanimous votes and little fanfare.

But the Republicans, who have They have already shown that they are prepared to fight. on Feinstein’s position on the Judiciary Committee, she could use this moment to play hardball when it comes to President Joe Biden advancing his judicial nominees.

They could oppose Schumer’s resolution.

It would only take one Republican senator to say no, which would then require the Senate to approve it by at least 60 votes. That means it would take at least 10 Republicans voting with Democrats (including the three independents who are part of them) to pass this resolution. If there are not 60 votes to do this, the newly appointed senator from California will not be able to serve on the committees.

It would be a deep break with Senate norms if Republicans went this route. Nobody says they will; It’s still early to know where things are headed, and a Republican Party leader already suggested He doesn’t expect drama around the committee seats.

But the fact is that it is an option. It all comes down to how far Republicans are willing to go to stop Biden from confirming his judges. And there is plenty of evidence to show that they are willing to go to extremes.

In April, Republican senators roared in opposition when Democrats asked to temporarily allow another Democrat to fill the Judiciary Committee seat amid Feinstein’s extended absence due to a battle with shingles. One by one, Republicans specifically refused to do this. because they didn’t want to do anything that would help Biden confirm his judges.

“I don’t think Republicans can or should help President Biden’s most controversial nominees,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said at the time. “I don’t think any Republican cooperation can be expected in this effort to confirm controversial and in many cases largely unqualified candidates.”

“I deeply respect Senator Feinstein, but this is an unprecedented request whose sole purpose is to appease those pushing for radical activist judges.” tweeted Senator Thom Tillis (R.N.C.), also a member of the committee.

Beyond that dispute, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has shown for years that he is perfectly willing to blow up Senate rules and play dirty if it means putting more conservative justices on the court. federal and deny seats on the courts to liberal judges.

He broke with Senate precedent by denying President Barack Obama the ability to nominate his Supreme Court nominee. He broke with Senate precedent by allowing President Donald Trump to take his Supreme Court nominee to court. He led his party in throwing up obstacles every step of the wayfor years, because of Obama’s judicial elections.

A spokesperson for McConnell did not respond to a request for comment on whether the Republican leader has any plans to use the Senate organizing resolution to block Feinstein’s successor from taking a seat on the Judiciary Committee.

McConnell made confirming judges his top priority under former President Donald Trump, helping him get ahead. Record numbers of far-right ideological judges.. Since Biden came to the White House, the Republican Party has returned to widespread obstruction. They have been routinely abusing a courtesy on the Judiciary Committee (the “blue slip” rule) to prevent Biden’s chosen judicial nominees from even getting to hearings.

The blue slip rule is not an official Senate rule. It is a tradition, unique to this committee, that gives a single senator veto power over the president’s judicial nominees. The way it works: Senators hand a blue slip, literally a blue sheet of paper, to the committee as a show of support for holding a hearing for a judicial nominee from that senator’s home state. If both senators from a judicial candidate’s state turn in their blue slips, the candidate gets a hearing. If only one does so, or none, the candidate does not get a hearing and is blocked.

Blue slips only apply to district court candidates, not appellate court candidates. That’s why Republicans have refused to hand out blueprints for Biden’s district court picks or have simply refused to work with the White House to pick district court nominees, knowing that the White House won’t will nominate any without their consent. The result is a growing number of district court vacancies across the country with no candidates in line.

During a hearing Thursday, committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) gave an update on how bad the problem has become: There are currently 44 district court vacancies eligible to be filled in states with at least one Republican senator. Of those 44, only four have nominees.

Progressives have long pressured Durbin to abandon the blue card process entirely (he could do so at any time), but he is continued defending him since the Republicans have continued to abuse him. On Thursday, he again called on Republican senators to work together to advance judicial nominees.

“If we are going to follow through with the blue application process, it has to be bipartisan,” he told the committee. “I urge all of you, on both the Democratic and Republican sides, to work with us and the White House to fill these vacancies fairly.”

Democrats know that Republicans have the ability to once again stymie Biden’s judicial nominations when it comes to getting Feinstein’s successor on committees. They are also watching to see what happens.

“Delaying an organizing resolution after the death of a sitting senator has never happened before,” said Durbin spokeswoman Emily Hampsten. “I hope it doesn’t happen now.”

If the Republican Party were to take action to prevent If Feinstein’s successor were to take a seat on the Judiciary Committee, it would leave the panel tied along partisan lines. That means that if Republicans opposed every judicial nominee who passes through the committee, which is often the case, the panel would be deadlocked every time. That wouldn’t ruin those nominees, but it would require Schumer to file a discharge petition to force the nominees to leave the committee, one at a time. That adds much more time to each person’s confirmation process and consumes valuable time in the Senate.

Michael Thorning The director of structural democracy at the Bipartisan Policy Center and an expert on Senate rules, said he can understand why people might be nervous that Republicans might try to block Feinstein’s successor from taking a job in the judiciary, given the actions of the Republican Party in April. But He warned that such a move could backfire on Republicans and harm the Senate itself.

“Republicans have to be very careful here,” Thorning said. “It would absolutely be a harsh constitutional and legislative move, and it would be a violation of Senate rules. “People in Congress have very long memories and are always looking for a way to say who started the fight to justify further violations of the rules.”

“If they chose that path just to block future judicial candidates,” he added, “I don’t think it’s a worthwhile trade-off for the health of the institution.”