Will Biden’s Supreme Court Nominee Get GOP Support? Here’s What Republicans Are Saying So Far

Topline

As the Senate prepares for a confirmation battle over President Joe Biden’s still-unnamed Supreme Court pick, it still remains to be seen whether any Republicans will support the judicial nominee—here’s what the senators most likely to vote for the nominee’s confirmation have said about their thinking so far.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) walks with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Dec. 14, … [+] 2021 in Washington, DC.

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Key Facts

Democrats view Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) as the most likely Republicans to vote for Biden’s nominee, Politico reports, as they’ve voted to confirm more than 60% of Biden’s district and appeals court picks—including Supreme Court contender Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Murkowski told local outlet KTOO that while she voted for Jackson’s confirmation to the D.C. appeals court, “there is a pretty tangible difference between” lower courts and the Supreme Court, and she will consider any nominee “with very critical review and analysis.”

Collins said on ABC’s This Week Sunday that she will “certainly give [Jackson]

While Collins said she would “welcome” a Black woman being appointed to the court, she criticized Biden for pledging to nominate a Black woman on the campaign trail, saying his handling of the nomination has been “clumsy at best” and he “politicized” the confirmation process.

Graham praised contender Judge J. Michelle Childs on Face the Nation Sunday, saying she’s an “awesome person” who is “qualified by every measure” and predicting Republicans would not treat her with hostility if she’s nominated.

Graham also disagreed with others in his party who have opposed Biden’s pledge to nominate a Black woman, saying “there are plenty of qualified African American women” who could be named to the court and he supports “making the court more like America.”

Tangent

Collins and Graham previously backed Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, who were nominated by former President Barack Obama in 2009 and 2010, respectively, while Murkowski voted against both.

Key Background

Biden is set to fill his first Supreme Court vacancy after Justice Stephen Breyer announced Thursday he will retire at the end of the court’s current term, assuming his successor has been confirmed. Breyer—one of the high court’s three remaining left-leaning judges—had faced heavy pressure from the left to resign while both the White House and Senate are still controlled by Democrats, as Biden’s nominee can be confirmed with only a simple majority of 50 Democratic senators and Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie breaking vote.

What We Don’t Know

Who Biden will nominate, though he has committed to appointing the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. More than a dozen names are still under consideration, CBS News reports, including Jackson, Childs, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and appeals court Judges Holly Thomas, Tiffany Cunningham, Candace Jackson-Akiwumi and Eunice Lee, among others. Beyond judges, Biden is also reportedly considering NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill and NYU law professor Melissa Murray.

What To Watch For

Biden has said he will name his nominee by the end of February. The president plans to confer with lawmakers from both parties about his decision, and the White House announced Biden will meet Tuesday with Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Ranking Member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to discuss potential nominees. (Grassley, who’s backed 36% of Biden’s lower-court judges, is another Republican who could vote for a Biden nominee, Politico notes.) Once a nominee is named, Durbin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have said they plan to move forward with the confirmation process expeditiously, and multiple outlets report Senate Democrats are planning a timeframe similar to the one month it took Republicans to confirm Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020.

Contra

While Collins, Murkowski and Graham have expressed openness toward Biden’s eventual Supreme Court pick, other Republicans have been hostile even before a nominee is named. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Sunday he has “high confidence” Biden will appoint an “activist” judge who “will drive the court even further to the left,” while Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) predicted Senate Democrats will “walk the plank in support of a radical liberal with extremist views.” The White House has criticized these premature judgements, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying Thursday Republicans who have attacked the nominee before they’re even named have “obliterated their own credibility.”