While it is no secret that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has rushed through Donald Trump’s judicial nominees for nearly four years, he and other Senate Republicans are already plotting to “freeze” all of Joe Biden’s nominees once he takes over the Oval Office.
In the past four years, Senate Republicans have rushed through more than 200 judges and three Supreme Court nominees. But they will not be doing the same for Biden, according to Politico.
“The good news is that we’ve done a good job — and we’re not done, as you know — filling the vacancies that there are on the appellate courts to minimize the opportunity for more liberals on it,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND).
The few times that Republicans did reject Trump nominees was when they were insufficiently conservative, such as Halil “Sul” Ozerden of Mississippi, so it’s hard to imagine them giving Biden much room to work.
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“I imagine they’ll have a tough time just because I’m not going to vote for people who I think are, to use my words, ‘judicial imperialists,’” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), whose opposition helped sink Trump’s nominee to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “But maybe he’ll surprise me if [Biden] is indeed the president, who knows, maybe he’ll send up nominees who are constitutionalists and textualists. I kind of doubt it.”
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin doesn’t expect much Republican cooperation if they win one or both of the Georgia runoff elections in January.
“If the last two years of the Obama administration were any indication, they’ll freeze them out,” Durbin said. “Hope springs eternal but I believe in history.”
