Democrats stung by a series of election-year failures to deliver legislative wins for their most loyal voters may have been buoyed by the prospect that President Joe Biden will name the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Justice Stephen Breyer’s pending retirement, confirmed by numerous sources on Wednesday, couldn’t have come at a better time for a Democratic Party reeling from the collapse of Biden’s legislative agenda last week, including a push to overhaul election laws that voting rights advocates said was critical to protecting democracy. As Democrats regroup with an eye on maintaining a tenuous grip on Congress after November’s midterm elections, the prospect of naming Breyer’s replacement offered an opportunity to pause from those bruising battles. Seeing Biden’s campaign pledge to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court fulfilled, Democrats hope they can energize a dejected base, particularly Black voters whose support will be crucial in the fall campaign. “This is a huge opportunity for us,” said Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, a national organization that encourages women of color to vote. “It turns out that appointing a Black woman (to the Supreme Court) at this moment could help to make up for the policy and political losses that we’ve seen recently.” “It’s a win,” Allison said. Among the names being circulated as potential nominees are California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, prominent civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill and U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs, whom Biden has nominated to be an appeals court judge. Childs is a favorite of Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who made a crucial endorsement of Biden just before South Carolina’s presidential primary in 2020. The exact timing of Breyer’s retirement remains unclear, but Senate Democrats who control the confirmation process plan to begin the proceedings as soon as possible. Despite that energetic push, there are risks for Biden and his party that could jeopardize any apparent political advantages born of an election-year Supreme Court vacancy. Replacing Breyer won’t ultimately change the court’s 6-3 conservative majority, which has stymied Biden on major priorities including his recent vaccine and testing mandate for large businesses. And if every Senate Republican unites to oppose the nominee, the president would need to secure support from every Democrat in the chamber. That could potentially revive recent fights in which moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema bucked the party and defeated its priorities. In a statement Wednesday, Manchin made clear he would scrutinize the pick. “I take my Constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on a nominee to the Supreme Court very seriously,” he said. “I look forward to meeting with and evaluating the qualifications of President Biden’s nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy.” Republicans, who privately conceded Wednesday’s development may help Democrats in the short term, were quick to signal that they would cast the nominee as too far to the left no matter whom Biden selects. “The Democrats know they will lose the Senate majority in 2022,” said Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who leads the Senate GOP’s campaign arm. “I predict that Chuck Schumer and whoever is running the White House will force all Democrats to obey and walk the plank in support of a radical liberal with extremist views.” […]
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