Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., on Sunday declared Republicans in the Senate are following the “Joe Biden rule” that allows a vote on a new Supreme Court nominee ahead of an imminent presidential election.
In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” Barrasso quoted Biden when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1980s and 1990s.
“In 2016 …we were following the Joe Biden rule,” Barrasso said of GOP senators’ resistance to then-President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
“When there is a Senate of one party and the White House of another, and a Supreme Court vacancy, we will not confirm,” he quoted the Biden rule as saying.
“Twenty-nine times there have been vacancies” when both the Senate and White House are from one party and “they go forward.”
President Donald Trump’s aim to nominate a successor for the seat left vacant by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death “is completely consistent with precedent,” Barrasso declared.
When host Chuck Todd remarked it “sounds like a power grab,” Barrasso batted back.
“When you have both parties in the White House and Senate, historically the confirmation goes forward and that’s what’s going to happen here,” he declared.
online today!Conrad73 Forum Posts (59,477)
that's all people we interacted with on a near daily basis!
RE: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Has Died