Conservative groups don't see a big fight over Justice Breyer's replacement. Fox News suggests otherwise.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Placing conservative justices on the Supreme Court has been a top-priority, decades-long project for the conservative movement. "But a survey on Wednesday of some of the top officials and activists in that universe indicates that they aren't planning a vicious political fight over President Joe Biden's pick to replace retiring Justice Steven Breyer," Politico reports.
Conservative judicial groups recognize that Democrats control the Senate and consider it a wash to replace Breyer with another liberal, Politico reports. Their "scorched-earth tactics secured the 6-3 conservative majority," NBC News' Sahil Kapur tweeted. "Letting liberals keep one of the three without a pitched battle would be a low-cost concession that doesn't disrupt the movement's big plans."
That may be the initial thinking at the Federalist Society and among key Senate Republicans, but Fox News seems to be gearing up for a big fight.
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.
Biden said on the campaign trail he would be "honored to appoint the first African American woman" to the Supreme Court. And the three judges identified by aides and allies as frontrunners — U.S. Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Chiles, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger — are all Black women.
On the Fox News prime-time lineup, that's "affirmative action."
Considering only Black women is "identity politics," Tucker Carlson said. "The people it's designed to help are completely dehumanized and patronized, reduced to colors rather than human beings, and in some cases, the rest of us really crappy service, because the best people aren't being chosen."
Sean Hannity suggested it might be "unlawful" and "unconstitutional" to only consider judges of a certain race or gender.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
There's certainly precedent for promising you will pick a female justice — both former President Ronald Reagan and former President Donald Trump did.
Laura Ingraham, meanwhile, took issue with the presumption that Biden would pick a reliable liberal for the seat.
"Adding a Black woman to the court would mean a series of firsts — four female justices and two Black justices serving at the same time on the nine-member court," The Associated Press reports. "Justice Clarence Thomas is the court's only Black justice and just the second ever, after Thurgood Marshall."
"Biden claims that his race-counting is essential so that the court and the rest of his administration 'looks like America,'" Carlson said Wednesday night. "Of all the lies that Joe Biden tells, this could be the easiest to check. We have the latest census numbers, and we can promise you with dead certainty that Joe Biden's nominees look nothing like America.'"
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
5 cinematic cartoons about Bezos betting big on 'Melania'Cartoons Artists take on a girlboss, a fetching newspaper, and more
-
The fall of the generals: China’s military purgeIn the Spotlight Xi Jinping’s extraordinary removal of senior general proves that no-one is safe from anti-corruption drive that has investigated millions
-
Why the Gorton and Denton by-election is a ‘Frankenstein’s monster’Talking Point Reform and the Greens have the Labour seat in their sights, but the constituency’s complex demographics make messaging tricky
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
