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Ever since Former President Donald Trump—with the help of GOP Senator Mitch McConnell—was able to stock the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) with three conservative judges during his four year term, Democrats have been feeling the judicial heat.
So when Senate Minority Leader McConnell vowed to stop President Joe Biden from filling a SCOTUS seat, people began to call for the early retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, an 82-year-old liberal judge who's been on the bench since 1994.
Those calls are rooted in anticipation of a worst case scenario for Democrats.
Right now, Democrats hold a majority in both the House and Senate, so McConnell couldn't stop a Biden nominee from surging through the process to replace an outgoing Breyer.
Hence Democrats calls for Breyer to get out while the getting's good.
But if Breyer didn't step down and Republicans went on to take back the Senate in the 2022 midterm elections, McConnell and his GOP colleagues would again control the Senate.
And, just as we saw McConnell and the GOP smother Former President Barack Obama's attempt to send Merrick Garland to the bench in 2016, we'd see it all over again with a Biden nominee.
McConnell made his plans to repeat that play quite clear in a recent interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt. McConnell called it "highly unlikely" he would allow a vote on a Biden SCOTUS nominee.
When the news spread, people expressed a constellation of rage against Republican hypocrisy, impatience with Democrats and pure strategy.Mitch McConnell is determined to block any and all Biden Supreme Court nominees if a seat opens in 2023 or 2024.\n\nRaise your hand if you agree that Stephen Breyer should retire so his seat can be filled NOW.— ReallyAmerican.com \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@ReallyAmerican.com \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1623687627
When I became the first person in Congress to call for Justice Breyer to retire now, while President Biden can still appoint a successor, some people asked whether it was necessary.\n\nYes. Yes, it is.https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/558268-mcconnell-signals-gop-would-block-biden-supreme-court-pick-in-24\u00a0\u2026— Mondaire Jones (@Mondaire Jones) 1623685901
Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed 8 days before the election, after 65 million Americans voted.\n\n293 days before the 2016 election, Garland couldn't even get a hearing.\n\nAnd now McConnell's saying he'll block Biden from filling a vacancy in 2024.\n\nTells you all you need to know.— Robert Reich (@Robert Reich) 1623708189
Mitch McConnell has said in essence, if Republicans controls the Senate they will block all Supreme Court nominees from any Democratic president forever. That man has done more to break democracy than anyone else alive— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1623702698
This should surprise absolutely no one. \n\nIt\u2019s not about democracy, it\u2019s about the acquisition and maintenance of power at any cost, no matter who it hurts. \n\nThat constitutes leadership for today\u2019s GOP.https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/558268-mcconnell-signals-gop-would-block-biden-supreme-court-pick-in-24\u00a0\u2026— Joe Kennedy III (@Joe Kennedy III) 1623700763
The way to understand Mitch McConnell\u2019s actions on blocking Garland in \u201816, to reversing that standard for Barrett in \u201820, to suggesting he\u2019d block Biden in \u201823/\u201824:\n\nHe is betting that Democrats won\u2019t do anything to retaliate when they have power. So far that bet is paying off.— Sahil Kapur (@Sahil Kapur) 1623687857
Supreme Court was broken when McConnell blocked Garlands hearing. Since then it\u2019s rapidly deteriorated. Biden needs to add 5 justices and introduce 15 year term limits.— Tyler (@Tyler) 1623685454
\u201cThe stunning part about that is that he\u2019s willing to say it out loud," Sen. Whitehouse says of news that Sen. McConnell won\u2019t confirm a Pres. Biden nominee if GOP controls the Senate. "Mitch will do anything in his power to hand the Supreme Court over."https://on.msnbc.com/3wqraUV— MSNBC (@MSNBC) 1623744063
Despite the calls for Breyer to retire growing louder and louder, he's remained silent on whether he will bring his 27-year tenure to an end.
We will have to wait and see.