Vice President Joe Biden on Monday was added to the tally of politicians (like President Obama) who have contradicted themselves on election-year nominations to fill Supreme Court vacancies. "Senate consideration of a nominee under these circumstances is not fair to the president, the nominee, or to the Senate itself," he said in the run-up to the 1992 election.
Biden finds himself in ample company. The Washington Post's Fact Checker blog counts "a bushel of flip-flops on approving judicial nominees" from both sides of the aisle. For example, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) argued in April 2008, "There is no reason for stopping the confirmation of judicial nominees in the second half of a year in which there is a presidential election." But this year, he discovered that there is a tradition, after all, and it's "not to confirm someone in the last year."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Marbled tea eggs recipeThe Week Recommends With a beautiful exterior, these eggs are also marked by their soft yolk
-
The Washington Post: kowtowing to Trump?Talking Point The newspaper's opinion editor has handed in his notice following edict from Jeff Bezos
-
Gene Hackman: the death of a Hollywood legendThe French Connection actor had an extraordinary gift for making characters believable
-
Trump eases Mexico, Canada tariffs again as markets slidespeed read The president suspended some of the 25% tariffs he imposed on Mexican and Canadian imports
-
Trump tells Cabinet they are in charge of layoffs, not MuskSpeed Read The White House has faced mounting complaints about DOGE's sweeping cuts
-
Rep. Sylvester Turner dies, weeks after joining HouseSpeed Read The former Houston mayor and longtime state legislator left behind a final message for Trump: 'Don't mess with Medicaid'
-
Trump pauses Ukraine intelligence sharingSpeed Read The decision is intended to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin
-
Supreme Court rules against Trump on aid freezeSpeed Read The court rejected the president's request to freeze nearly $2 billion in payments for foreign humanitarian work
-
Trump touts early wins in partisan speech to CongressSpeed Read The president said he is 'just getting started' with his sweeping changes to immigration, the economy and foreign policy
-
Trudeau blasts Trump's 'very dumb' trade warSpeed Read Retaliatory measures have been announced by America's largest trading partners following Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China
-
Trump pauses military aid to Ukraine after public spatSpeed Read Trump and J.D. Vance berated Volodymyr Zelenskyy for what they saw as insufficient gratitude
