SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer has announced his retirement. What hurdles will Biden face getting a new nominee through confirmation?

Not as many as anyone else before. There is only a simple majority needed for confirmation now.
Thanks, Mitch!

They’d better do it fast and sit on the turncoat Dems – Sinema and Manchin.

Bit McConnell in the ass, didn’t it?

@chyna He’ll be bitching that it’s too close to the midterms to consider!

I am afraid that the republicans will try and steal another seat.

I kind of hope the Dems have the game plan for this one figured out. It does seem a lot like Lucy, Charlie Brown and the football lately.

@janbb, somehow the Dems are always caught off guard, aren’t they? Sometimes the vaunted high road is a ridge six inches wide with 1000-foot drops on both sides. And then, never mind explosives, all it takes is some jerk out there behind a shrub with a pea shooter.

Dare we hope that Breyer discussed this with someone (such as the president) beforehand?

@filmfann, how about “It’s too close to the last election to consider an appointment, because, after all, Biden didn’t really win it”? And besides, Putin will want to make his own appointments.

The Dems have the senate majority so I don’t see a problem from anyone outside the party. Biden has promised a black female so if he nominates any other he may have trouble from his own left. Breyer is liberal and any candidate Biden picks will be liberal so it won’t change the court much. It sounds like your all expecting trouble where none exists.

I don’t see a problem. I’m sure he is leaving now to practically guarantee there will be little trouble confirming a Biden pick.

@Jaxk Not everything is a given. Sen. Joe Manchin (D, WV) is a wildcard lately, along with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D, AZ).

@chyna – Biden would have to nominate somebody really crazy to keep from confirming his pick. I won’t put that past him since it’s in his best interest to have something to talk about instead of his disastrous policy decisions. Anyone even remotely qualified will slide right through, as long as it is a black woman.

I don’t know that it’s a hurdle, but Biden has a make-or-break thing with this nomination. He has pushed and pushed his (and the Dems) agenda and has seen his approval rating continue to tank. 71% of the people think the country is going in the wrong direction and this includes 48% of Democrats. If he puts forth and pushes for a nominee that is viewed as someone that will continue to push towards the wrong direction, he sets up an interesting situation. The Dems in Congress will have to support him, but with mid-terms coming up, that could be viewed as a big negative for them and they could increase the already elevated chances they will lose both the House and the Senate.

Another consideration along these same lines is that he is committed to nominating only black women. He is pandering to the minorities with this. But there is a growing unrest among black voters in particular that the Democrats do nothing for them. And they get insulted when the Dems do things like this. They feel they are being used to help the Dems and that could hurt his party as well.

He will be able to nominate whomever he likes and will likely get them pushed through Congress, but the blow-back from a bad choice could be nothing but trouble for Democrats.

I don’t see how setting race and sex as primary criteria isn’t racist and sexist.

@Jeruba It is.