It appears that not only was there some sort of unconfirmed backroom deal percolating between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and President Joe Biden to appoint an anti-abortion Federalist Society member as a federal judge –- the President was reportedly planning to do it at the worst possible time.
Eye on the Ball:
The Senate
The House
I wouldn’t trust McConnell if he were dead and buried. That sumbitch is just plain evil.
The Eastern District of Kentucky does not currently have a vacancy.
At least if this is true it means someone at the White House got their head out of their ass and realized this was a bad idea. I don’t see this nomination happening now. The big question is whether or not Manchin and Sinema will allow Biden to increase the pace on the remaining nominees so that we fill up the judiciary before the the midterms, just in case we lose the Senate. I’m watching Biden closely on this, it will show whether he has skills and the backbone needed for my support in the 2024 primary.
Biden at the National Prayer Breakfast in February:
“Mitch, I don’t want to hurt your reputation, but we really are friends,” Biden said, addressing McConnell. “And that is not an epiphany we’re having at the moment. You’re a man of your word, you’re a man of honor. Thank you for being my friend.”
Bring pro choice nominations on for all vacant judgeships. They won’t stall them in todays political climate. If they do, up the ante with more publicity. Not every day we have an opportunity like this.
Technically true, but:
Is this another example of Joe thinking that it’s still 1985, and Tip and the Gipper are sharing an Irish whiskey after a hard day of name-calling, bluster, and other shenanigans?
The Supreme Court did not have a vacancy when Ketanji Brown Jackson was nominated and confirmed to replace Justice Breyer. Same thing here.
Biden is willing to make a deal with the devil (literally) because, as he’s said, McTurtle is “a man of honor” and “they really are friends.”
As @jhand pointed out, Joe thinks it’s still 1985. I would posit, however, that he’s off by a minimum of 10 years; Biden isn’t nearly that “futuristic.”
If this were to be true, I’m having trouble believing that a McConnell led GOP would be a trust worthy partner.
Please explain to me what is/would be the gain on this nomination? Even if POTUS trusted Yertle which I don’t believe, what would Dems gain, in exchange?
@jhand: That’s just BS.
As a non-American, it’s just hard to care after a while. The country that billed itself as the bedrock of democracy is devolving into an autocracy, and all people are doing is negotiating the timing of the country’s demise.
He was going to appoint a forced-birther to a lifetime position.
Your next election will not be democratic. Get your heads around that.
I like Biden generally speaking, but I cannot begin to fathom what he’s thinking here. This is just a boneheaded move any way I look at it. Come on, Joe!
More like “word trickled…somehow, we just couldn’t possibly know how…to the SCOTUS that Biden would nominate the judge on Day X, so the SCOTUS fascists planned releasing the Roe decision that day for maximum damage…”
Good point. 1975 saw Jerry Ford having an after-work drink with just about anybody and everybody. Joe had been two years in the Senate by then, and probably, after the workday, tossed a few back with Jerry, Howard Baker, Hugh Scott, and Teddy. Political ecumenism or sinister collaboration? You decide.
Manchin and Sinema have not been any kind of impediment to any of Biden’s judicial nominees.
By this point in Trump’s first term, he had gotten 42 Article III judges confirmed to the federal bench – 1 SCOTUS, 21 COA, and 20 district court. As of today, Joe has gotten 70 Article III judges confirmed – 1 SCOTUS, 17 COA, and 52 district court.
(One of Joe’s COA confirmations is the same person as his SCOTUS confirmation.)
But wait, I thought everyone here agreed it was unconfirmed fake news?
Biden should never be allowed to be alone with Mitch. His ‘true friend’ rolls him every time
Joe is, fairly famously, a teetotaler.