WASHINGTON — President Biden’s pledge to name a Black woman to fill a coming Supreme Court vacancy has thrust Republicans into a tricky political calculation, forcing them to confront how aggressive to be in opposing the nominee and how to do so without appearing to be racist and sexist.While Supreme Court battles have become scorched-earth affairs in recent years, Republicans are weighing whether to wage all-out war or take a more tempered approach against Mr. Biden’s pick, particularly given that whomever the president chooses to succeed Justice Stephen G. Breyer will not change the conservative ideological tilt of the court.Many of them recognize that a divisive fight could provide more fodder for Democrats to try to deepen the wedge between their party and African Americans before this year’s midterm elections. And while some take issue with Mr. Biden’s pre-emptive promise to name the first Black woman to the court, arguing that the choice should be based on merit rather than race or gender, Republicans enter the coming showdown fully aware that the groundbreaking nature of the president’s pick could make challenging the nominee far more fraught.“The idea that race and gender should be the No. 1 and No. 2 criteria is not as it should be,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, who is regarded as a potential swing vote in favor of Mr. Biden’s pick. “On the other hand, there are many qualified Black women for this post and given that Democrats, regrettably, have had some success in trying to paint Republicans as anti-Black, it may make it more difficult to reject a Black jurist.”Others say the historic nomination of the first Black female justice without the philosophical balance of the court in play could provide the opportunity for a reset after a series of confirmations enveloped by brutal partisanship, even if most Republicans ultimately oppose the choice.“I think there is a lot of value in lowering the temperature,” said Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota.Even as most Republicans appear inclined to prevent the review of the nominee from veering into a highly polarized and partisan clash, doing so will not be easy. At least two Republican senators, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Ted Cruz of Texas — white men, like the vast majority of the Senate — have drawn criticism in recent days for suggesting that Mr. Biden’s promise is offensive and akin to affirmative action.Mr. Wicker said the nominee would be benefiting from a “quota” of the sort the Supreme Court itself has reviewed, while Mr. Cruz said Mr. Biden’s pledge was “actually an insult to Black women.”Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, said such comments showed that the Republican Party had moved on from “racial dog whistles and gone directly to racial sirens.”Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said on Monday that as the Biden administration has sought to expand the diversity of the federal bench over the past year, he has found that the nominations of “assertive women of color” have drawn more fire from Republicans than he would have anticipated.ImageSenators Charles E. Grassley, left, and Richard J. Durbin went to the White House on Tuesday to discuss the pending nomination.Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York TimesStill, Mr. Durbin said he held out hope that the eventual nominee would be able to attract bipartisan support, and said he had been actively reaching out to Republicans to assure them that they would have access to the person chosen.“I think there are certain Republican senators who may — may — consider voting for a Biden nominee,” he said.While the court process is in its very early stages, the first few days have been notably subdued compared with the charged atmosphere that marked recent confirmation clashes from the very start.On Tuesday, Mr. Durbin and Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, headed to the White House for what appeared to be an amicable meeting with Mr. Biden to discuss the pending nomination.The president, a former chairman of the panel, said he welcomed Republican input. “I’m serious when I say I want the advice of the Senate as well as the consent,” he said.Later, aides to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, released a routine statement saying that he had spoken to Mr. Biden by phone and shared his desire for a nominee who demonstrated “a commitment to originalism and textualism.”It was a sharp contrast to 2016, when Mr. McConnell went to the White House to inform President Barack Obama personally that he had no intention of considering Mr. Obama’s nominee to fill the seat left open by Justice AntoninBy: Carl Hulse
Title: Republicans Weigh How Forcefully to Fight a Black Female Court Nominee
Sourced From: www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/us/politics/republicans-supreme-court-nominee.html
Published Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2022 10:00:23 +0000
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