OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Should Vice President Kamala Harris become the next occupant of the Oval Office, a top Republican senator is vowing to block “radical” left-wing Supreme Court nominees.
The threat comes from Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, one of two GOP senators most likely to take over as party leader in the chamber when Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) steps down.
Republicans are expected to emerge from the November elections with a solid majority, and the new Senate majority leader, who will be elected in the weeks following the presidential election, could play a significant role in the Supreme Court confirmation process.
“I’m not going to schedule a vote on some wild-eyed radical nominee, which I know she would love to nominate,” the Texas senator told CNN.
Senate Republican Whip John Thune, the other favorite to replace McConnell, said that a Republican majority in the Senate would be useful in blocking Harris’s candidate if need be.
“We’ll cross the bridge when we come to it,” Thune said. “But, you know, it probably depends on who it is and that’s the advantage of having a Republican Senate.”
There are currently six GOP-nominated justices on the court, compared to three Democratic presidents’ nominees. Harris and other far-left members of her party have called for expanding the nation’s highest court to extend the number of liberal picks.
She has also backed ended the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, known as the filibuster, though she likely would change her tune if Republicans do win control in November.
In August, Republicans ripped President Joe Biden and Harris’s long-term proposal to reshape the Supreme Court as a way to politicize the judicial system.
“President Biden and I are calling on Congress to pass important reforms – from imposing term limits for Justices’ active service, to requiring Justices to comply with binding ethics rules just like every other federal judge. These popular reforms will help to restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law,” Harris said in a statement.
The proposals include an 18-year term limit and requirements that justices disclose gifts, avoid political activity, and recuse themselves over conflicts of interest. They also pitched a constitutional amendment that would rescind the Supreme Court’s July finding that presidents have presumed immunity for the core functions of their office.
Harris has acknowledged that she contributed to the plan’s formulation but did not host any public events to promote it.
“I’ve made clear how I feel about Kamala and she’s been an incredible partner to me and a champion of surprise throughout her career,” Biden said in his speech.
“And she’ll continue to be an inspiring leader and project the very idea of America — the very idea that we’re all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.”
The White House is trying to capitalize on the mounting anger among Democrats over the court’s rulings that reversed long-standing precedents on federal regulatory authority and abortion rights.
Liberals have also expressed dismay about disclosures regarding choices and relationships made by several members of the conservative wing of the court that they claim cast doubt on their impartiality.
Later, Harris said in a statement that the American people needed to have faith in a Supreme Court free of ethics scandals and decisions that flouted established precedent.
She said the reforms being proposed “will help to restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law.”
Biden contended that term limits would provide some stability to the nomination process and help guarantee that court membership changes regularly.
However, the country’s founders gave federal judges and Supreme Court justices lifetime appointments so they would be free from political interference and influences.
However, they can be removed from office by impeachment. Only one—Associate Justice Samuel Chase in 1805—has been removed from office.