Mitch McConnell plays his Supreme Court card
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
If President Joe Biden wants to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, he had better hope a seat opens up between now and the end of 2022.
That’s the unmistakeable message sent by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) in an interview Monday with conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt.
“I think in the middle of a presidential election, if you have a Senate of the opposite party of the president, you have to go back to the 1880s to find the last time a vacancy was filled,” McConnell told Hewitt. “So I think it’s highly unlikely. In fact, no, I don’t think either party if it controlled, if it were different from the president, would confirm a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of an election.”
Asked about whether he would allow the confirmation of a justice in 2023, McConnell was, um, circumspect. “Well, we’d have to wait and see what happens,” he said.
Which, in McConnell-speak, is a “no.”
The timing of McConnell’s decision to announce his plans about a court opening if and when he becomes Senate majority leader is, well, interesting.
It comes roughly 24 hours after New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D)Â told CNN’s Dana Bash that she would “lean towards yes” when asked whether Justice Stephen Breyer should retire at the end of this term.
McConnell’s move, like everything he does, is calculated.
First of all, it helps unite a fractious Republican base, which cares deeply about conservative jurists — and views McConnell’s blocking of Merrick Garland in 2016 as a moment of triumph.
Second, it is likely to stir up the Democratic base — and confirm for liberals that Breyer needs to retire and Biden needs to fill the opening created ASAP. Which could well impact Breyer’s ultimate decision. (CNN has previously reported that Democratic leaders are nervous about liberals pushing Breyer toward the exit — and having the exact opposite effect.)
The Point: This may all end up moot if Breyer announces at the end of this term — which will be at the end of this month — that he is retiring. But if he decides to stay on, the fight for control of the Senate next year will have epically large stakes.
